How to Make Money in the Airline Business Without Flying a Plane

If you think that the company flying the planes in the air should also be managing them on the ground, you might be surprised to know that's often not the case. Ground handling work has become a nice little business on its own, and in fact, many smaller airlines are starting to push it as their main business.

Remember Skyway Airlines? That airline operated as Midwest Connect and was shut down last month, only to be replaced by another airline. But Skyway actually lives on and still does the ground handling for flights that it used to operate.

Then there's Aloha. They also shut down last month, but their ground handling business is alive and well. Currently, Aloha handles the ground work for many airlines that fly to Hawaii, and that is apparently not going to change anytime soon.

How about Air Wisconsin? The airline almost lost all of its flying when United decided to dump it as a United Express carrier. Air Wisconsin ended up getting US Airways to pick it up, and that saved the flying business, but the carrier also has been able to grow its ground handling as well. Just last week, the airline announced it would add 700 jobs as it begins servicing United in even more cities than it already had been. That brings the total to 27 cities.

If you have a business and you're thinking about being in the airline industry, you might just want to consider staying away from that whole "flying" thing. Start slinging bags or checking people in and you'll make a much better living.