Examination of Temporal, Classification, and Population Impacts of Flight Operations at Airports in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 147, Issue 12
Abstract
Airports provide essential infrastructure to connect travelers and products to destinations across regions, nations, and the world. However, these connections were the focus of restrictions in the midst of a global pandemic because the same potential to provide access to people and products as a hub of long-distance travel can also serve as an opportunity to spread a virus. The objective of this paper is to explore the temporal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on flight operations at airports in the US, in addition to an examination of the differences among various classifications of airports. For commercial service and general aviation airports, the airports with the quickest and most substantial recoveries were in areas with populations of under 100,000 people [within 48.2 km (30 mi) of the airport]. Airports with higher and lower populations within 48.2 km experienced sharper declines in flights and slower recoveries. Local, state, and national airport infrastructure investments will need to consider these effects and changes in demand spurred by COVID-19 while monitoring the long-term sustainability of the changes.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request: flight operations data and population data.
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 30, 2021
Accepted: Aug 27, 2021
Published online: Sep 22, 2021
Published in print: Dec 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 22, 2022
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Cited by
- Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt, Anming Zhang, COVID-19 pandemic and air transportation: Summary of Recent Research, Policy Consideration and Future Research Directions, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 10.1016/j.trip.2022.100718, 16, (100718), (2022).