Research Project Description

<COSTS AND EQUITY OF REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS THROUGH LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION MEASURES:  A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE ADVANCED MODELING LITERATURE FOR PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CALIFORNIA

Project Number: 2804

Research Project:

Case studies and a literature review will be used to develop a framework to help planners identify which secondary airports to develop as existing major airports in California get congested. This has been identified as a research interest of the Aeronautics Division of Caltrans.

Principal Investigators:

Senanu Ashiabor, Ph.D, Associate Transportation Researcher, Dowling Associates, Inc.

Wenbin Wei, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Aviation and Technology, San Jose State University

Institution:
Mineta Transportation Institute

Telephone Number:
(408) 924-7560
Email Address: mti@mti.sjsu.edu

Project Objective:

Develop case studies and preliminary mobility metrics to guide planners in developing secondary airports to reduce congestion at large hub airports in California.

Project Abstract:

In the deregulated United States (U.S.) airline industry planners have limited control over traffic growth at airports. This is because traffic growth is tied to the airports airlines choose to operate from, and the airlines have been free to select airports since deregulation. Adequate planning for future airport development therefore requires an understanding of airlines, their needs and behavior.

Until recently, the airlines operating hub-and-spoke networks (usually referred to as legacy airlines or carriers) have dominated the airline industry. These legacy airlines sought to gain competitive advantage over each other by building large scale networks, with high departure frequencies, and aggressive ticket pricing schemes. Fruhan, empirically demonstrated that a passenger airlines market share in a region is highly correlated to the frequency of flights offered by that airline (The Fight for Competitive Advantage, 1972). Couple this with the fact that airlines concentrate traffic close to centers of economic activity, and it is clear why past efforts by planners to convince legacy carriers to move flights from congested secondary airports have not been successful. In summary, the operating paradigm and structure of legacy airlines means they tend to favor large airports and plans to increase capacity at existing airports rather than moving operations to secondary airports.

The past ten years have seen the growth of a new category of airlines in the U.S market usually referred to as Low Cost Carriers (LCC). They are so named because a major component of their operating strategy has been to keep costs low. Part of the cost minimizing strategy of the LCC has been to operate out of secondary airports close to urban areas instead of the existing major airports. In California, Southwest has fueled growth at Oakland airport, and Jet Blue at Long Beach airport. This strategy gives them various advantages, such as reduced congestion and fast turn-around times for their aircraft. This approach also gives them the ability to negotiate low fees and charges with airport authorities eager to attract traffic to their airports. When LCCs invest in terminals at airports they tend to favor simple designs in contrast to the elaborate and sophisticated architectural designs at major hubs. In a nutshell LCCs in addition to dominating traffic growth in the near future, are a key driver of growth of secondary airports in the U.S. in general and California in particular. If LCC become the dominant clients of airports in the future, then appropriate planning for secondary airports will require planners to understand the needs and behavior of this group of airlines. The behavior and actions of the LCCs over the past ten years has been well documented in the literature. A review of their behavior at this time will be a valuable resource to planners as they make strategic development plans for the future.

The aim of this proposal is to conduct a focused review of the operations of the two groups of airlines in relation to the development of secondary airports. The objective of the review and case study will be to identify the key factors that influence the airport selection criteria of airlines, especially LCC; and use this to develop measures and policies that planners can use to develop secondary airports. The review will focus on the operations of LCC in the U.S. in general but California in particular. It will concentrate on factors that have driven their airport selection strategies and the forms of infrastructure investments they have been willing to make during their tenure at existing airports. Insight into the kind of infrastructure investments LCC are willing to commit to during their tenure at secondary airports will help planners decide what kind of facilities to upgrade at existing underutilized airports. The Caltrans Department of Aviation has already sponsored two studies in 1998 and 2002, on The California Aviation System-Current Status and Recent Trends that address the aviation system as a whole (Hansen et al., 1998, 2002). The proposed review will both draw from those studies and complement it from a long-term planning perspective.

Further, an understanding of regional airports is a critical element for regional transportation planning.

Milestones Dates:

Task 1: Literature Review

Task 2: Development of Case Studies

Task 3: Development of Policy Framework

Task 4: Prototype of Mobility Database

Task 5: Produce Final Report

Final completion Date

Total Budget: $51,944 (includes $9,450 for MTIs costs) 

Student Involvement:

Diana Pancholi, Undergraduate Student, San Jose State University

Technology Transfer Activities:

Upon publication, a pdf version will be available on the Mineta Transportation Institute site. The project experience and data will be available for community meetings. Authors are encouraged to submit articles based on the research to relevant journals and to present the information to end-users at conferences.

Potential Benefits of the Project:

Best practices developed from this research will provide guidance to policy makers on what aspects of developing secondary airports to focus on and potential pitfalls to avoid. Reliable database to develop a framework to help planners identify which secondary airports to develop as congestion increases in existing major airports.

TRB Keywords:

Airports, Airport Planning, Air Transportation, Energy and Environment; Operations and Traffic Management

Primary Subject:

Airport congestion in California

Goals:

To produce a decision support framework to assist in identifying which secondary airports to develop as existing major airports in California get congested.

Enabling Research:

Review and analysis of literature; Legal analysis; Modeling

Modal Orientation:

Transportation Planning