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A Typology of Rural Airports in the United States: Evaluating Network Accessibility

Author

Listed:
  • Fangwu Wei

    (Drexel University)

  • Tony H. Grubesic

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

Since deregulation of the airline industry in 1978, carriers have largely focused their commercial service efforts on medium and large hub airports located in metropolitan areas with sufficient demand for air travel services. These profitable locations often cross-subsidize service to smaller hubs, which can function as feeder nodes/links to the larger hub-to-hub carrier network. However, as fuel and labor costs continue to increase for commercial carriers, reductions and terminations of air service in smaller rural markets are common, reducing carrier footprints and leaving many regions of the United States without viable air transport options. To be clear, this is not a new development. Many rural and remote airports are all too familiar with service reductions, which is why safeguards such as the Essential Air Service program continue to operate. The purpose of this paper is to explore the network and geographic context of airports in the U.S., evaluating relative accessibility and using this information to develop a typology of rural airports for the U.S. Implications for policy and transportation planning are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Fangwu Wei & Tony H. Grubesic, 2015. "A Typology of Rural Airports in the United States: Evaluating Network Accessibility," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 57-85, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:rre:publsh:v45:y:2015:i:1:p:57-85
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fuellhart, Kurt & Dai, Liang & Grubesic, Tony & Derudder, Ben, 2021. "The U.S. Essential Air Service Program and SARS C0V-2, 2019–2020," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Xiaoqian Sun & Sebastian Wandelt & Mark Hansen, 2020. "Airport Road Access at Planet Scale using Population Grid and Openstreetmap," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 273-299, March.
    3. Joshua Hall & Amanda Ross & Christopher Yencha, 2015. "The political economy of the Essential Air Service program," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 147-164, October.
    4. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Aston, Laura & Baker, Douglas & Braun, Boris & Shatu, Farjana, 2021. "Changes in land use typology of global airports: An empirical investigation with implications for the aerotropolis concept," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Wei, Fangwu & Grubesic, Tony H., 2016. "The pain persists: Exploring the spatiotemporal trends in air fares and itinerary pricing in the United States, 2002–2013," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 107-121.
    6. Vega, Amaya & Reynolds-Feighan, Aisling, 2016. "The impact of the great recession on Irish air travel: An intermodal accessibility analysis," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-18.
    7. Yongha Park & Morton E O’Kelly, 2017. "Exploring accessibility from spatial interaction data: An evaluation of the Essential Air Service (EAS) program in the contiguous US air transport system," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(4), pages 930-951, April.
    8. Jake R. Nelson & Tony H. Grubesic, 2018. "Environmental Justice: A Panoptic Overview Using Scientometrics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    transportation; rural airport; network; typology; planning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

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