Exploring challenges associated with large-scale air transportation infrastructure planning and execution

Several U.S. Airports are currently engaged in large-scale, multi-year capital improvement programs. For many airport councils, these programs are once-a-career occurrences. Although these large programs present many of the same issues as smaller scale airport construction projects, they also present specialized environmental, financial, and legal issues. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide an overview of the challenges presented by large-scale airport construction programs and to suggest various strategies to address these problems. To fulfill the objectives of this study, three in-depth structured interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) from both academia and industry were conducted and analyzed. In these interviews, detailed qualitative data regarding several aspects of airport development and construction challenges, as well as potential strategies for overcoming them, were collected. This study provides a detailed analysis of airport construction difficulties pertaining to the following challenges: Environmental permitting issues for large capital improvement programs, increasing legal difficulties due to multiple sources of funding challenges, local issues that need to be addressed through public outreach and education, transitioning tenants and operations from existing to new facilities, phasing and staging the construction process, and using incentives (both liquidated damages and bonuses) to accelerate the progress of airport construction projects. This study also collected and analyzed several case studies of each of the described airport transportation development challenges. The outcome of this study will help policymakers appropriately plan the construction of large-scale air transportation modes and accurately allocate the required funding.