Understanding the Implications for Airports of Distributed Air Transportation Using a System-of-Systems Approach

Abstract

This paper merges two perspectives to better understand the future requirements for airports. From the methodological perspective, a system-of-systems (SoS) approach is employed to provide structure to the numerous, multi-level aspects crucial to understanding air transportation dynamics. From the operational perspective, distributed on-demand air service is introduced as a new service paradigm. This new service intends to improve doorstep–destination mobility for regional intercity trips. Its realization could dramatically shift the loading on the present day network of airports. To examine the potential impacts, network models are developed from the SoS foundation for the new on-demand service, a hub-and-spoke network topology, and a scheduled point-to-point service. An example is provided which illustrates the implications of these service models on airport fitness using Indiana airports as a case study. The ability of an airport to be part of many preferred trips, its network centrality, is found to drive fitness in distributed service models. The overarching objective of the approach is to provide decision support for airports that integrate all relevant dimensions – economics, technology, operations, and policies.