Understanding and Comparing the Different Fund Levels in Airport Improvement Projects: A Graph Theory Approach

With an increasing demand for passenger and freight travel, airport construction program spending has heightened throughout the years. This poses a greater threat for sponsors to withstand the required financial capacities especially within the current economic conditions. None of the previous research attempted to provide a comprehensive overview on Airport Improvement Program (AIP) project expenditures. This paper fills this knowledge gaps using a graph theory approach. To this end, the authors used an interdependent research methodology that comprised of: (1) identifying AIP project keywords to represent the work actions performed; (2) vectorizing the data into a reference matrix that is split based on fund level; (3) developing the adjacency matrices from each reference matrix; (4) constructing the graph networks; and (5) visualizing the full data as well as interpreting for similarities and differences between the different fund levels. There were sustained similarities as well as differences between the fund levels. Results also indicated that the rehabilitation in the main aircraft entry, exit, maneuvering, and stationing areas are the main focus and center of all fund levels. Ultimately, this research synthesizes a foundation for comprehensive understanding of AIP projects by studying the interconnections as well as work actions performed in each fund level. This shall aid stakeholders in improved fund allocation decision-making procedures and management of human resources.