Aviation Industry Resources to Counter Human Trafficking

Survivors of human trafficking report being subjected to the crime through all modes of transport, including aviation. Human traffickers recruit, transport, and exploit their victims via commercial and private airports and airplanes in urban and rural communities. 

This page offers information, training, printable materials, graphics, and resources to counter human trafficking in the aviation industry.  

Aviation-Related Data

Transportation-related data on human trafficking includes the International Organization for Migration’s Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative’s 2020 analysis of over 80,000 individuals subjected to human trafficking from 171 countries. The data indicates that nearly 80 percent of international human trafficking cases crossed official points of entry, including approximately 20 percent by airplanes. Transport-related data in the U.S. includes the Human Trafficking Institute’s (an NGO) Federal Human Trafficking Report of federal sex trafficking cases filed in 2023, which found that defendants used airplanes in 7 percent of cases.

Survivors of human trafficking report being subjected to the crime through all modes of transport. The NGO United Against Slavery conducted a National Outreach Survey for Transportation in 2021 that included 159 survivor respondents that utilized transportation during recruitment, exploitation, and extraction or escape. The National Outreach Survey for Transportation found that 81 percent of 107 survivors of human trafficking utilized transportation during their recruitment, 76 percent used transportation during the course of their exploitation, and 52 percent stated that transportation facilitated their exit or escape from their trafficking situation. Another 12 percent of 97 survivors in the study indicated that a commercial airline was used to relocate them during their exploitation while 4 percent indicated that private jets were used.

Indicators of Human Trafficking in Air Travel

As an aviation-sector employee who interacts with travelers, you play a critical role in preventing, recognizing, and reporting suspected instances of human trafficking in and around airports and airplanes. 

Learn the signs or indicators of human trafficking, which can be observed in the airport during check-in, security check, or boarding. They can also be present on the airplane itself.

Initiatives and Training

Blue Lightning Initiative

The U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI) trains aviation industry personnel to identify potential traffickers and human trafficking victims and to report their suspicions to federal law enforcement.  BLI offers a 25-minute training video for aviation personnel.  Participation is open to any U.S. aviation industry organization and to international air carriers serving the United States. Learn more about BLI and how to access the BLI virtual training module.

Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking (TLAHT) initiative is comprised of transportation and travel industry stakeholders working jointly to maximize their collective impact in combating human trafficking. TLAHT offers a 20-minute multimodal training video for transportation employees and the traveling public.  Access TLAHT’s multimodal human trafficking awareness training.

Awareness Materials and Resources

Download, share, and display posters, pocket cards, social media graphics, and other graphics to help spread the message on how to identify and report suspected instances of human trafficking. Posters and social media graphics include a QR code that links to the TLAHT awareness campaign page. We request that users sign the TLAHT pledge to utilize the materials.