Structural Efficiency and Robustness Evolution of the US Air Cargo Network from 1990 to 2019

Changsong Zhao,Chunliang Xiu,May T. Lim

doi:10.1155/2021/9310670

Abstract

As the US air cargo network (USACN) becomes a crucial part of the economy, it is pivotal to understand the structural evolution of the network and how it would be affected by unexpected events. We investigated the network structure, efficiency, and robustness of the USACN from 1990 to 2019 due to targeted attacks based on complex network theory from a dynamic and spatiotemporal perspective. Our results suggest that the USACN has enhanced robustness. Moreover, we find that attacks based on betweenness centrality are the most effective way to cause a collapse compared with attacks based on degree and closeness centrality. In addition, airports of the USACN have formed an increasing number of communities with geographical ties, and airports in the noncontiguous regions are more vulnerable than other communities in the lower 48 states. Further, we discover that the average path lengths have increased, and the overall efficiency has decreased from 0.7 to 0.4 due to the dependency of the hub-and-spoke structure. This paper complements previous studies on the dynamic structure evolution of air cargo networks through the lens of complex network theory with spatial-temporal data.

Highlights

Air transportation contributes to a large proportion of the global economy, and it has drawn increasing attention from scholars during recent years
Multiple real-world scenarios in the past have suggested that disruptions such as severe weather events, terrorist attacks, or global pandemics could bring catastrophic effects for the airline industry and regional and global economics for both air passenger and cargo networks. erefore, it is of paramount value to assess the robustness of the air transport network when facing either random errors or targeted attacks. e most recent case of the COVID-19 global pandemic has had a devastating impact on the air transportation industry and the global economy beginning from April 2020 with the travel restrictions grounding flights and blocking connections amongst cities
Our results reveal that (1) the US air cargo network grew increasingly distinctively to the air passenger counterpart. (2) e airport community structures tend to form close to their geographical proximity

Summary

Introduction

Air transportation contributes to a large proportion of the global economy, and it has drawn increasing attention from scholars during recent years. According to [1], though the air cargo industry transports 1% of the total volume, it contributes to 35% of the total world trade value. E most recent case of the COVID-19 global pandemic has had a devastating impact on the air transportation industry and the global economy beginning from April 2020 with the travel restrictions grounding flights and blocking connections amongst cities. Both air passenger and cargo demand plummeted 69.7% and 20%, respectively, while the air cargo demand decreased slower due to the global shortage of medical supplies and equipment. Previous studies have examined topology using cross-sectional data, and there is a lack of literature in academia that explores the air transport network from a temporal perspective

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