Top 5 Largest Aerospace Companies in the US

Below you can see the list of top 5 largest aerospace companies in the US. For our discussion and a more comprehensive list please see top 11 largest aerospace companies in the US.

5. Honeywell (NYSE: HON)

Honeywell is another multinational conglomerate which has its headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. You might be more familiar with the company because it has initiated a smart home project, providing consumer products so that you can automate your home and have a variety of such products available. However, its aviation industry is the biggest segment of the company, which was able to make $14 billion and an astounding 113,000 employees, which is why it is ranked higher in the list than it otherwise would have been. In addition to aircraft such as the Honeywell RQ-16 T-Hawk, it also makes weapons such as missiles and rockets, and has carried out dozens of acquisitions over the years.

4. Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC)

Northrop Grumman is one of the biggest American defense and aerospace companies, which had revenues of $33.8 billion and has over 90,000 employees. It is also now one of the world’s biggest weapons manufacturer and provider of military technology. It has won the Collier award, a very prestigious aviation award, eight times and earned its most recent win for the production of the first autonomous, unmanned air system which was operated from an aircraft carrier. It is also famous for producing the only stealth bomber in the world, the B-2 Spirit, which will soon be replaced by the B-21 raider. The company has faced a lot of criticism for its disregard for the environment, but as you would expect from one of the biggest weapons manufacturer in the world, little progress has been made.

3. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)

Lockheed Martin is not just an aerospace company but also an arms, security, defense and advanced technologies company, which is also perhaps the most famous company known mainly for its defense contributions to the military. Based on just being a defense contractor, Lockheed Martin is the biggest company in the world, and most of its revenue is derived from the military; approximately 78% back in 2013. In 2019, the company earned revenues of $59.8 billion and 110,000 employees, and has won the aforementioned Collier trophy five times.

2. Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX)

In the list we used as our source, this company would have much lower in our list, but in 2020, it combined with United Technologies because of which, we combined their revenues and employees, making it the second biggest aerospace company in the US. The merger took place in April 2020, and the combined revenue is equal to $76.1 billion while the number of employees equal 195,000 even though you would expect a lot of redundancies post merger. Even if there are several thousand redundancies, it will still be the aerospace company with the highest number of employees.

1. Boeing (NYSE:BA)

Of course, topping the list of top 5 largest aerospace companies in the US is Boeing, with revenues of $76.6 billion and 161,000 employees. We have already mentioned the losses that the company has had to cope with due to the Covid-19 pandemic and you can reduce this number by 26,000. Furthermore, Boeing in 2018 was actually by far the largest aerospace company not just in the US, but in the world with revenues of $100 billion, though a drastic decrease of over $24 billion year on year saw Airbus take the top spot. It is very hard to estimate which company will come out on top in 2020, with the uncertainty lingering and perhaps companies such as Lockheed Martin, whose main source of revenue is from the military, may clinch top spot this year.

See also 10 Countries With The Largest Aerospace Industries In The World and Top 15 Defense Contractors in the World in 2020