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Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
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OCR for page 1
1
INTRODUCTION
On June 6 and 7, 1989, a group of 22 professionals met at
the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., to explore
the roles that airport passenger terminal buildings play in the
nation's air transport system, technology and passenger travel
trends, and what these trends may mean for future airport ter-
minal buildings. In particular, workshop participants were asked
two questions: (l) What do policymakers and planning and design
professionals responsible for terminal buildings need to know for
the future? (2) What should be done to help these policymakers
and professionals learn what they need to know? Workshop par-
ticipants--airport planners and operators, airline executives,
equipment manufacturers, terminal building users, and govern-
ment officials--were invited as individuals concerned about the
nation's ability to meet its future air transport needs, rather than
as representatives of particular interests. (Participants are listed
in Appendix B.)
Passenger terminals, while locally owned and operated, com-
prise a major element of the nation's air transport system. There
is a growing concern within the industry and among the public
at large--as reflected in the popular press and professional
publications--that there is indeed much to be learned to make
these facilities a more fully effective part of the system.
The U.S. passenger-airline industry has grown during the
past decade in ways that have required significant changes in
how airport terminal buildings are used and operated. Many
terminal building complexes that were designed for domestic
passengers traveling nonstop from their cities of origin to their
destinations lack flexibility and adaptability. This makes it
difficult to adapt facilities to serve international passengers or
large numbers of domestic passengers transferring between
flights in an airline hub-and-spoke system. Changes in passenger-
terminal services, air carrier operations, aircraft characteristics,
security systems, and airport equipment typically offer improved
OCR for page 2
service and efficiency for airlines or passengers but also pose
new design problems and costs.
Airports represent a major investment that can influence
local, regional, and national economies as well as individual
passengers, comfort and convenience. In the face of rapid growth
in demand for air travel, airport operators around the country
have had to renovate, expand, or replace their passenger-terminal
facilities. Airlines and other users of most airports pay for all or
a portion of the costs of these facilities through their rents and
service fees, and so have a strong interest in the costs of design,
construction, and operation. These costs and the quality of air-
port service are in turn felt by airline passengers, shippers, other
businesses and sometimes by the public at large.
Because there are no generally accepted standards for judg-
ing service levels in terminal buildings, it is sometimes difficult
for operators, builders, airlines, and other users of these facilities
to reach a consensus about design and operating requirements for
terminal buildings at each airport. A 1987 TRB study on Measur-
ing Airport Landside Capacity2 concluded that such standards
are unlikely to be developed except through a process that can
identify and resolve the sometimes conflicting interests of the
various airport users.
Airport operators and airline passengers, recognizing the
understandable desires of airlines to minimize their operating
costs, need balanced information on what levels of service are
appropriate, desirable, and affordable at the nation's diverse
airports. Designers of aircraft and support equipment place
demands on the passenger-terminal building that influence
capital requirements and operating costs of airlines and airport
operators. Federal, state, and local government agencies that
have interests in airports and the nation's air transport system
need information to make informed decisions about future build-
ing and other facilities investment.
Workshop participants were invited to present their own
viewpoints on these various concerns, and then to work together
to suggest what can be done to ensure that future airport
passenger terminals function effectively and to meet the growing
service requirements of all users within the nation's air transport
system.
2 Measuring Airport Landside Capacity, Special Report 215,
Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 1987.
2
Representative terms from entire chapter:
air transport
