Exploring Airport Access and Accessibility: Regional and National Perspectives

Airports, as ground facilities providing support for air traffic, strongly reflect the evolution of the airline industry. They play an important role in transporting people, freight and ideas. However, the role of an airport, both individually and as an element of the larger global network, can change over time. These changes are fueled by economic growth and recession, changing urban and demographic landscapes, variations in domestic and international transport policies, and the operational health of commercial carriers. Further, because most airports are inextricably tied to their regional markets, the benefits associated with locational access to an airport and its associated accessibility to the larger global air network can also vary substantially over time. More importantly, Deregulation in airline industry has significant impacts on changing structure of air transport network, functions and service levels at airports, interaction with local communities, airport competition and market leakage. All changes influence airport access and accessibility in the United State. Although these changes have been widely recognized, several aspects that have impacted travelers, characteristics of airports and associated markets remain unexplored. The four papers included in this dissertation provide quantitative contributions to the literature on exploring and evaluating airport access and accessibility. The first paper explores the spatiotemporal dynamics of dehubbing process at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). It highlights the operational, market and geographic factors that contributed to CVG's decline and use basic exploratory data analysis to provide perspective and deepen our understanding of this process. Results suggest that a combination of commercial carrier strategies, operational efficiencies, hub structures, network topologies and regional competition contributed to the deterioration of CVG. The second paper examines the variations in local geographic markets and their impacts on service levels. Specifically, it uses exploratory and confirmatory statistical approaches combined with spatial analysis to examine the geographic, demographic, socio-economic and local business determinants that contribute to commercial flight activity from Essential Air Service (EAS) airports. Results suggest that geographic proximity to larger hubs, subsidy levels and the local population of the EAS catchment area are critical factors in flight activity at EAS airports. The third paper explores the network of airports in the United States, evaluating relative accessibility and using this information to develop a typology of rural airports for the U.S. Finally, the empirical work presented in this paper, particularly concerning peer groups, can serve as a powerful tool for enhancing planning and policy for rural air transport. The final paper explores the uneven spatiotemporal distribution of air fares, by airports and associated flight segments, examining both symmetries and asymmetries in fare patterns over time and across space. Results suggest that several significant pockets of pain still exist within the United States, and that asymmetries in air fares create a lopsided fare structure for many smaller markets, further aggravating the fare imbalances spawned by deregulation. In sum, the four studies comprising this research provide important information to understand and improve the airport access and accessibility, evaluate associated air transport polices and provide recommendations.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 201