NAICS 481212 size standard: Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation
Sectors 48-49—Transportation and Warehousing › Subsector 481—Air Transportation
1,500 employees
average number of employees
A business whose primary industry is NAICS 481212 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation) is small for SBA and federal contracting purposes if it has no more than 1,500 employees on average, including affiliates.
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NAICS 481212 on AwardWatchdog
Before you rely on this
- Affiliates count. SBA adds the receipts or employees of your affiliates (companies that control you, that you control, or that share common ownership or management) to yours. See 13 CFR 121.103.
- Receipts are a 5-year average. Average annual receipts are generally your total receipts over your last 5 completed fiscal years divided by 5 (13 CFR 121.104).
- Employees are a 24-month average. Employee-based standards use your average number of employees per pay period over the preceding 24 completed calendar months, counting part-time and temporary staff (13 CFR 121.106).
- The contract decides the code. For a federal contract, the contracting officer assigns one NAICS code in the solicitation, and that code’s size standard is the one that counts.
- Check officially. Use the official SBA Size Standards Tool and keep your SAM.gov registration current.
Not legal or professional advice. This is a free estimate from AwardWatchdog based on SBA’s published table. AwardWatchdog is not affiliated with SBA or the U.S. government. Only SBA can make a formal size determination.
Common questions
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 481212?
A business whose primary industry is NAICS 481212 (Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportation) is small for SBA and federal contracting purposes if it has no more than 1,500 employees on average, including affiliates. The standard comes from SBA’s table at 13 CFR 121.201 (last amended effective March 17, 2023).
How are employees counted for NAICS 481212?
SBA averages the number of employees for each pay period over the preceding 24 completed calendar months, counting full-time, part-time and temporary employees, and includes affiliates (13 CFR 121.106).
Is this an official size determination?
No. This page is an estimate from AwardWatchdog based on SBA’s published table. Use the official SBA Size Standards Tool at sba.gov and only SBA can make a formal size determination.
Related codes in Air Transportation
481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation (1,500 employees) · 481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation (1,500 employees) · 481211 Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation (1,500 employees) · 481219 Other Nonscheduled Air Transportation ($25.0M)
Source: 13 CFR 121.201 (SBA table of small business size standards, eCFR current as of October 15, 2026; last amended effective March 17, 2023). See also SBA’s table of size standards.
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