Introduction
The United States air transportation system is vast and complex, which evolved from small airports with jets of limited capacity to new and larger facilities. Furthermore, technological advancement in the field of airplane building allowed to move from flights being a luxurious service to a routine necessity for most Americans (Movieman695, 2013). Additionally, the U.S. air traffic system continuously strives to perfect its operation to ensure safety and seamless functioning with minimum delays (La Porte, 2019). The number of domestic and international flights varied during different periods of existence of American airports (Young & Wells, 2019). Still, the demand for this service increased after 2010 and remained high, requiring ongoing management of flight registrations, baggage sorting, pavement repairs, and vehicles for transporting passengers (Young & Wells, 2019). Therefore, U.S. airlines should consider enlarging the capacity of their airplanes, and airports will need to alter internal infrastructure to meet all the requirements for larger and newer machines to function correctly. Airports capacity expansion will require adjusting airport design, pavement repairs for runways, taxiways, and aprons, increasing gate capacity, better baggage handling, as well as improving aircraft servicing operations to reduce delays.
Effects of Larger Aircraft on Airport Design
Although most delays occur due to severe weather conditions, some problems arise because of small capacity and airport design issues. To minimize delays, many airways companies started to employ larger aircraft in their operations because bigger jets possess the more significant carrying ability, which expands airport capacity. The latter is “the capacity to handle aircraft operations,” the efficiency of movement between terminals, and “the number of automobiles that can unload passengers at an airport’s curb” (Young & Wells, 2019, p. 4). In fact, two types of airport capacities are usually described, throughput and practical. The former is defined as the rate at which flights and passengers are handled without taking into consideration slight technical impediments (Young & Wells, 2019). On the other hand, practical capacity is “the number of operations that may be accommodated over time with no more than a nominal amount of delay” (Young & Wells, 2019, p. 5). However, larger aircraft always demand more space and unique management to prevent collisions (Young & Wells, 2019). Thus, the design of airports should be adjusted to these sizes accordingly.
Airports should have a design that will allow faster transportation between terminals and airfields that must be large enough to fit airplanes of greater size. Furthermore, airport runways should be designed so that several simultaneous operations are run with multiple jets involved (Young & Wells, 2019). Four major categories of runways are known: parallel, intersecting, single, and open-V (Young & Wells, 2019). In the case of a single runway system, the management is relatively simple even for airplanes of bigger size, but in three other situations, all operations should be highly coordinated (Young & Wells, 2019). It is particularly crucial in the open-V and intersecting runways because some old airports may not be able to handle synchronous takeoffs of jets with extended wings. Therefore, runways should be redesigned to create more considerable distances between them, especially if parallel or open-V runways prevail in an airport. More staff should be hired for intersecting runways to increase the number of flights with a slight time difference. Additionally, airplane regulation should be digitized in all airports to increase the efficiency of departures and arrivals with fewer delays that may occur with human coordination.
Effect on the Frequency of Airport Pavement Replacement and Repairs
Newer and larger aircraft may require different pavement due to increased loading capacity and jet speed. Airport pavement is a complex structure that demands the evaluation of subgrade, paving materials, applied loads, and climate (Federal Aviation Administration [FAA], 2021). The ultimate goal of constructing or repairing pavement is to create “support for the loads imposed by aircraft” (FAA, 2021, p. 11). Furthermore, it should be stable to pressure and severe weather conditions, firm, smooth, skid-resistant, and clean.
Fortunately, people no longer have to perform calculations and assessments manually. Instead, they can implement software known as FAA Rigid and Flexible Iterative Elastic Layer Design (FAARFIELD) (FAA, 2021). This computer program allows for analyzing all dimensions of airport pavement and provides recommended depth based on the information about aircraft and the total load (FAA, 2021). However, human intervention is still required because people still make decisions on cost, funding, and design variations. For example, Onida Municipal Airport recently received a budget of $3.2 million to repair runway pavement and the taxiway (FAA, 2022, para. 6). The service time for pavements is about twenty years, providing high-quality and usually expensive materials were utilized for building that runway (FAA, 2021). Indeed, constructing and repairing airport pavement is costly, but it is essential if airlines use newer jets with larger capacities.
Effects on Taxiway and Apron Separations
Pavement construction is designed and evaluated for taxiways and airport aprons as well. For newer and larger jets, the apron’s pavement should be constructed in the same way as the runway since it is the place where airplanes are loaded and unloaded. Similarly, a taxiway, which connects the apron and runway, must be able to withstand loads of aircraft with and without passengers and baggage. It is critical to use high-quality materials for constructing aprons and taxiways to prevent early pavement degradation, which may affect the normal functioning of airplanes (FAA, 2021). Overall, the same methodology should be applied to build airport runways, taxiways, and aprons.
Effects on Gate Capacity and Baggage Handling Operations
When an airway company purchases large aircraft, the administration understands that the airport’s capacity rises; hence, baggage handling operations must be speeded up, and gate capacity should be increased. Unfortunately, in most airports in the United States, the baggage-dropping system is slow, and it sometimes takes an hour for passengers to stand in a line to check in their luggage (Grone, 2019). On the other hand, in some European countries, it takes less than a minute to drop off baggage and register (Grone, 2019). Therefore, if American airports want to employ new aircraft and increase their capacity, they should start digitizing and automating baggage registration and opening more or bigger terminals both for internal and international flights. Furthermore, terminals should contain the necessary facilities, furniture, and appliances to ensure passengers’ comfort and proper distancing between individuals for the realities of COVID-19 and future pandemics. Moreover, if the size and capacity of airports are increased, the navigation system within and between terminals must be improved for the convenience of passengers.
Effects on Aircraft Servicing Operations
Larger jets may require a change in aircraft servicing operations since fuel of different quality or additional training for employees may be needed. Notably, regardless of the size of an airport and its capacity, it still regulates arrivals and departures, plans crew schedules and controls operations. Still, airport managers and administrators will have a higher workload in terms of handling new airplanes’ maintenance. For example, the A380, one of the largest existing jets, has a twice larger capacity than any average airplane (Ussinova et al., 2018). Moreover, it demands more fuel and technical evaluation before and after each flight. In the case of large aircraft, computer simulations are often used for the simulation of flights during various weather conditions to estimate fuel consumption and possible issues that may emerge (Ussinova et al., 2018). In fact, the former may be greater or less than determined during the simulation (Ussinova et al., 2018). Human operators should always check if a jet is able to reach the next destination successfully. Thus, more operations management and servicing staff may need to be recruited to increase work efficiency.
Potential Issues and Complications of Airport Expansion
Despite the broad range of benefits of employing larger aircraft, airports may experience some problems, some of which can be prevented or diminished. The first issue that may arise from increasing airport capacity is opposition from people living in the adjacent areas (Dray, 2020). It can mainly happen in the situation when runway expansion needs to be done because the construction of additional facilities will produce unwanted noise (Dray, 2020). Furthermore, building runways may result in the destruction of flora and fauna of a specific region, which will result in resistance from climate activists and even entire non-governmental organizations (Dray, 2020). Neither of these sides should be perceived as evil or wrong in protecting their peace, physical and mental well-being, and nature. Instead, airports, communities, and governmental agencies should strive to develop a balanced solution to this problem.
Additionally, greater airport capacity suggests that the number of flights increases, leading to the rise in carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere, and hence airports may be subjected to legislative fines. In the era of rigorous environmental movements, runway expansion may be stopped, or the newly built facility may never be opened for utilization due to governmental restrictions (Dray, 2020). The latter leads to immense financial losses for airports and airlines. In a way, this problem is beyond airports’ control because jets’ fuel consumption, speed, and greenhouse gas emission depend on the design and manufacturing methods of airplane construction companies. Still, the decision to handle more flights is made by airway companies and airports; therefore, public criticism is usually addressed to them.
Another problem is the sudden reduction in the number of passengers as a consequence of economic recessions, terrorist attacks, epidemics, or pandemics like the COVID-19 crisis. For example, after 9/11, American Airlines experienced a significant drop in income due to a decrease in flights (Young & Wells, 2019). Furthermore, when the economy crashed in 2008, people purchased fewer airplane tickets for almost two years (Young & Wells, 2019). Although the number of air travels rebounded in 2010, the 2020 coronavirus crisis halted all of them for several months. The pandemic kept the entire world in a state of restricted air traveling for more than a year until the official introduction of the vaccines. Overall, the main problem is that some issues are hard to predict; therefore, airports should be prepared for a temporary decrease in their market size.
Proposed Solutions for the Problems
The solution to the abovementioned problems is complex due to the fact that the issues are multidimensional. Nonetheless, some steps can be taken to overcome some of these issues. First of all, airports may try to find deserted areas to use for constructing additional runways, taxiways, and aprons to reduce the negative influence of this business on wildlife and mitigate the conflict with environmental activists. However, not all regions may be suitable for building airport facilities because the soil must possess certain qualities (FAA, 2021). Thus, this solution will be hard to fulfill in some areas, but if it is realized, the problem with legislative restrictions will be resolved by default. Carbon dioxide emissions cannot be regulated by airports because this particular factor depends on jet manufacturers. Consequently, aircraft producers should design larger, faster airplanes with greater capacity and fewer greenhouse gases due to shorter travel time.
The issue with force majeure, like pandemics, terrorist attacks, or economic recessions, is challenging to resolve because these forces are external. Therefore, the only solution is to prepare for various scenarios by developing plans with specific steps to follow for each employee, team, or department. For example, if the airport capacity drops, all facilities and jets should still undergo regular check-ups. As an example of the 9/11 attack and the 2008 crisis, the downfall phase is followed by a rebound in the number of flights (Young & Wells, 2019). Even today, when software, social media, as well as various messaging and video conference apps enable retained functioning for educational institutions and businesses without the need to travel, people still want to connect offline. Indeed, humans are social creatures; hence, most will always strive to have live interaction, personal or work-related. As the situation with COVID-19 showed, after the global lockdown was loosened, airplane ticket purchases started to rise. The only thing airports should consider is having enough personal protective equipment for their employees in case the coronavirus crisis worsens or another dangerous pathogen emerges.
Conclusion
Airports that plan to expand their capacity may consider employing larger aircraft, but they must be prepared to make necessary adjustments. Specifically, the airport may need to change its design, increase the number of runways, make pavement repairs more frequently, and hire more people for operational management. New airplanes can carry twice as many people as their earlier versions, which means that airports’ capacity may expand, requiring redesigning terminals and gates and altering the baggage registration process. The latter is relatively slow in American airports compared to international ones; thus, it will be better to make it more automated using the newest technologies. However, such problems as resistance from the community, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies may arise due to airport expansion. Unforeseen situations such as terrorist attacks, economic recessions, and pandemics may impede functioning or cause a drop in air travel. The first issue can be resolved by finding less inhabited places for runway construction. The only approach to the second problem is to simulate various scenarios of such cases and develop a plan for the business to withstand and overcome complications that stem from force majeure.
References
Dray, L. (2020). An empirical analysis of airport capacity expansion.Journal of Air Transport Management, 87, 1-11.
Federal Aviation Administration. (2021). Airport pavement design and evaluation.
Federal Aviation Administration. (2022). FAA awards $371M to improve airport infrastructure across the U.S.
Grone, E. J. (2019). Disrupting complex systems with emerging technologies: A study on United States airport operations [Honors thesis, University of New Hampshire]. Honors Theses and Capstones.
La Porte, T. R. (2019). The United States air traffic system: Increasing reliability in the midst of rapid growth 1. In R. Mayntz & T. P. Hughes (Eds.), The development of large technical systems (pp. 215-244). Routledge.
Movieman695. (2013). Airline deregulation: The document that transformed the industry [Video]. YouTube.
Ussinova, A., Laplace, I., & Roucolle, C. (2018). An analysis of the impact of larger aircraft (A-380) on flight frequency. Energy Efficiency, 11(3), 701-712.
Young, S., & Wells, A. T. (2019). Airport capacity and delay. In Airport planning and management (7th ed., pp. 1-52). McGraw-Hill Education.