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APPENDIX A GLOSSARY 20 Included here are definitions of selected terms helpful to understanding and discussing airport landside capacity. Terms in italics are defined elsewhere in the glossary. ACCESS. In the context of aviation activities, the airlines' ability to offer service at new airport locations or to increase service at airports already served (see Ground access). AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (ATC). The federally regulated system of rules, procedures, instruments, and personnel intended primarily to assure flight safety. ATC procedures may have substantial influence on timing of aircraft departures and arrivals at an airport. AIRCRAFT OPERATION. Aircraft departure from or arrival at an airport; takeoffs and landings. Airside facilities must serve all operations (includ- ing those of general aviation), whereas landside activity is typically related only to departures or arrivals of commercial service aircraft. AIRPORT COMMUNITY. In broad terms, those served by an airport. This includes passengers, shippers, and other airport users; employees of the airport and businesses relying on air transportation; neighbors of the airport, especially those exposed to aircraft noise, airport access traffic congestion, noise, and pollution; and local and state government. AIRSIDE. Airport facilities associated with aircraft movement to transport passengers and cargo, used primarily for landing and take-off, for example, runways, taxiways, and ATC facilities. The airside may overlap the air- space at ends of runways. AIRSIDE CAPACITY. See Capacity (airside). AIRSPACE. Designated area beyond the airport where aircraft are permitted to operate, often under ATC regulations; may overlap the airside. ANALYSIS PERIOD. Specified period of time, typically a peak period, used for analysis of landside capacity. Choice of period depends on functional components considered and demand characteristics. 20 Reprint from Measuring Airport Landside Capacity, Special Report 215, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. 1 987. 27
APRON. Aircraft interface between landside and airs~de. It includes ramps and aircraft circulation area. AUTOMATED GUIDEWAY TRANSIT (AGT). Fixed-guideway system for transporting passengers between central terminal and remote terminal, among unit terminals, or to other airport facilities. BAGGAGE SERVICES. Processing of passengers' checked baggage. In- cluded are destination tagging, movement to baggage room, sorting, move- ment to and from aircraft, loading and unloading, and delivery to baggage claim display device. Interline transfer, storage, and delivery may be included. CAPACITY (AIRSIDE). As defined by the FAA, the maximum number of aircraft operations that can take place in an hour. This is a maximum throughput rate. CAPACITY (LANDSIDE). As defined in this study, capability of the land- side or its functional components to accommodate passengers, cargo, ground transport vehicles, and aircraft. Service volume is the principal indicator of landside capacity in this report. CHECK-IN. Initial step in passenger processing, involving passenger contact with the airline immediately before flight departure. It may include ticket inspection, issuance of boarding pass and seat assignment, baggage check- ing, ticketing, and preliminary inspection of immigration documents and may occur at ticket counter or gate area. To speed processing, some steps may be completed in advance of passenger arrival at the airport CLEAR ZONE. Area at ends of runways and other areas surrounding airport in which height and land use limitations are imposed to ensure that no obstructions to safe aircraft operations occur. COMMERCIAL SERVICE AIRPORT. As defined by the FAA, public use airport receiving scheduled passenger air service and enplaning at least 2,500 passengers annually. There are 552 such airports included in the FAA's 1984 National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). COMMUTER. Airline providing service primarily over short-haul route seg- ments connecting small airports to hub locations. The term also refers to the smaller aircraft used for such services, typically with seating for 10 to 50, and to the general service conditions associated with such airline operations. CONNECTING PASSENGER. A transfer passenger. CROWDING. Density of people in airport waiting areas, or number of people per unit area. Those accompanying departing passengers or greeting arrivals may be included as well as passengers themselves. DELAY. For the airside, added time spent in accomplishing an aircraft opera- tion because of airport congestion, or the difference between time required under constrained conditions caused by simultaneous demands on the 28
facility and time required under unconstrained conditions. Landside delay is the added time required for a passenger to complete processing at a functional component because of limits to capacity. Wait time and process- ing time are included. Acceptable delay depends on type of service being delivered, demand characteristics, and local conditions at an airport. DEMAND CHARACTERISTIC. Number of air passengers and aspect of their behavior that materially affect the ability of afunctional component or group of components to accommodate them. Such factors as the timing of passenger arrivals at the airport, age, trip purpose, fare paid, baggage camed or checked, and whether passenger has a ticket and boarding pass are often important. Airlines often try to tailor their services to their passengers' demand characteristics. FEDERAL INSPECTION SERVICES HIS). Federal government processing of international passengers and baggage, primarily on arrival in the United States. Immigration, customs, agricultural, public health, and narcotics control functions are included. Terminal areas for international arrivals include FIS facilities staffed and operated by federal employees. FUNCTIONAL COMPONENT. Element of the landside such as a gate or ticket counter that provides specific service to air passengers or cargo. Functional components unable to meet demand characteristics and main- tain adequate service levels may become limits to capacity. GATE. Terminal portal for passengers to enter and exit aircraft. The term is commonly used to mean a loading bridge-equipped entry adjacent to a holdroom, but may include entry to a transporter or directly onto an apron. It sometimes includes the handstand. GENERAL AVIATION. Activities associated with private and business air- craft as opposed to common-carner passenger aircraft and airports with less than 2,500 annual enplaned passengers or used exclusively for such activities. In addition to reliever airports, 2,440 general aviation airports are included in the NPIAS. GROUND ACCESS. Highways, local streets, fixed guideway systems, and public and privately operated transit services linking an airport to the area that it serves. GROUND HANDLING. Unloading and loading of catering supplies, bag- gage, and cargo; fueling; and minor maintenance on the apron associated with servicing an arriving aircraft and preparing it for departure. HARDSTAND. Aircraft apron parking position equipped with fixed facili- ties for ground handling but not directly linked to a terminal. It may be considered as a gate. HOLDROOM. Passenger waiting area adjacent to gate. The term is also used to refer to other passenger waiting areas such as that for immigration or baggage claim devices. 29
HUB-AND-SPOKE OPERATION. A pattern of airline routes that brings direct flights from many points (the spokes) to a centrally located airport (the hub). Flight schedules allow passengers to transfer quickly between flights during periods when many aircraft are simultaneously at the hub location. Such a route structure is intended to maintain high levels of aircraft utilization and loading. Airline hubs increase proportions of pas- senger transfer traffic. These transfer centers do not Necessarily qualify as hub airports as defined by FAA. HUB AIRPORT. A standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) and the commercial service airports serving that area that account for at least 0.05 percent of all passengers enplaned annually in the United States. Because some SMSAs are served by more than one airport, there are fewer hubs than there are hub airports. Hub airports are classified by the percent of total domestic enplanements as large (1 percent and more), medium (0.25 to 0.99 percent), and small (0.05 to 0.25 percent). The NPIAS includes 140 hub airports. INTERLINE TRANSFER. A passenger and his checked baggage changing from one air carrier to another while in transit at an airport. Such transfers, in contrast to transfers within the same airline hub-and-spoke operation, pose particular problems of baggage-handling logistics and may require passengers and baggage to move between terminal buildings at larger airports. LANDSIDE. Facilities and services associated with air passengers or cargo movement between aircraft and trip origin or destination. The landside includes aprons, gates, ter~runals, cargo storage areas, parking, and ground access. LANDSIDE CAPACITY. See Capacity (landside). LOADING BRIDGE. Mechanical device and passenger pedestrian pathway to link terminal to aircraft. Sometimes called a "jetway," although this term is a registered trademark. LONG HAUL. Flights longer than 1,500 mi. Such flights normally require more preparatory ground time before departure than short-haul flights (those less than 500 mi long) and are often flown by larger aircraft. MAXIMUM THROUGHPUT. Maximum rate at which passengers (or air- craft, ground transport vehicles, pieces of baggage, tons of cargo, etc.) can be processed by a functional component or group of components. In practice this rate is observed only when demand equals or exceeds a component's processing capability, and is typically sustained only for brief periods, because excess demand usually produces significant delays and crowding. OFF-LINE TRANSFER. Passenger changing planes between Rights operated by different airline companies. Also tended interline transfer. 30
ON-LINE TRANSFER. Passenger changing planes between flights operated by the same airline company. Times required for on-line transfer may be shorter than those for off-line transfers because gates are located closer together and flight schedules are coordinated. PART 150. Portion of Federal Aviation Reg~lanons (FAR) implementing aircraft noise measurement and compatible land use planning to limit areas and population exposed to aircraft Eloise. PASSENGER CIRCULATION AREA. Corridor, stairway, escalator, or mov- ing walkway connecting processing components, generally only in a terminal. PASSENGER SCREENING. Security inspection of passengers and hand- carried baggage in preparation for enplanement. Such screening typically includes x-ray and occasional hand search of baggage and metal-detector (magnetometer) examination of passengers. PEAK LOAD FACTOR. The ratio of demand during the peak period (for example, a peak hour) to average demand during a reference period (for example, the daily average hour). Generally expressed as a number or percentage, for example, 1.2 or 120 percent. PEAK PERIOD. Time period, which may be one hour, several hours, or one day, representative of busy conditions within a functional component. It is typically defined from historical records by frequency of occurrence. PEOPLE MOVER. A type of automated guideway transit (AGT). PRIMARY AIRPORT. Commercial service airport at which at least 0.01 percent of all U.S. passengers are enplaned annually (as reported in the NPIAS, equal in 1982 to about 31,000 enplanements). The NPIAS lists 280 such auports. RAMP. Aircraft parking position, often used to refer to gate parking positions. RAMP CHART. A graphical presentation of the daily schedule of flight operations for a group of gates. The chart shows scheduled arrival and departure rim es, and thus when a gate is occupied. RELIEVER AIRPORT. General aviation airport that has the designated function of relieving congestion at primary airports. Such airports increase access for general aviation to the community and may be candidate loca- tions for airlines wishing to expand service or enter new markets. The NPIAS lists 227 reliever airports. REMOTE PARKING. Automobile parking areas located at some distance from the terminal and connected to it by shuttle bus service or a people mover. REMOTE TERMINAL. Facility located at some distance from an airport where passengers may undergo some part of the processing associated with 31
the landside portion of the top. Remote parking and check-in may be included. SERVICE LEVEL. The quality and conditions of service of a functional component or group of components as experienced by passengers. Such factors as delay, crowding, and availability of passenger amenities for comfort and convenience measure service level. SERVICE-LEVEL TARGET. Minimum or maximum tolerable service level during a particular analysis period established by airport operator, airlines, the FAA, and the community to guide decision making. SERVICE TIME. Time required, excluding waiting time, to process a pas- senger at a functional component such as a ticket counter or passenger security screening facility. SERVICE VOLUME. Number of passengers (or aircraft, ground transport vehicles, etc.) with particular demand characteristics that can be accom- modated by a functional component or group of components during an analysis period at a given service level. SHORT HAUL. Flights less than 500 mi long. Aircraft on short-haul routes may be able to operate with very short turnaround times compared with those on long-haul routes. STRUCTURED PARKING. Multilevel building for automobile parking at airport. TERMINAL. Building with facilities for passenger processing and boarding of aircraft or groups of such buildings (unit terminals, often used by a single airline) within a terminal area. Terminals are often classified into four configurations by the system used for horizontal movement of pas- sengers: linear, pier, satellite, and transporter (see Figure G-1~. TERMINAL CURE. Passenger interface between ground access and termi- nal. Passengers arrive or depart in private automobiles, hotel and rental-car vans, limousines and buses, and transit vehicles. The curb system may include direct rapid transit and rail system links to the airport, although stations are typically located elsewhere and linked by bus or pedestrian paths to terminal buildings. TRANSFER. Passenger changing planes at an airport en route to the final destination. Such passengers, either on-line or off-line transfers, typically are at the airport for a relatively short period of time and use fewer landside facilities and services than passengers starting or ending their journey at the airport. Airline hub-and-spoke operations sharply increase the number of transfers at the hub airport. TRANSPORTER. Mobile vehicle for carrying passengers between terminal and handstand. TURNAROUND TIME. Scheduled time required between aircraft arrival and departure for passenger unloading, ground handling, and boarding. 32
)+ --- l Apron I _ *a ~ * +~+ ] 1 1 1 1 1 1 ~ Cut b (a) Unear (example: Dallas- Ft. Worth Internatlonal) _ _ _- Apron I 1 _~M + ~ 0- I Of 11 Aft 1 1 11 1 l ~ 'I J _ ~ ~ Cl~r b (~) Satelilte (example: Atlanta, I larts?leld Internatlonal) o (d) Transporter (example: Washington, D.C., Dulles Internatlonal) FIGURE G-1 Airport landside terrrunal config~ations. ~ Apron '-- - -1-- 1 ~ 1 ~ _ _ ~ I _ = = _ _ _ _ =~ Curb (b) Pier (example: New York, LaGuardla) ___+ Apron =, , 0 r ·o' ~ td · ~4~ Curb USER. Broadly understood to include passengers9 airlines, cargo shippers, concessionaires, and others who use auport landside facilities and services. In this report, passengers are the principal users, and are served by airlines . · . and airport operations. WIDEBODY. High-passenger-capacity jet aircraft such as the Airbus, Boeing 747, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed L-1011. Physical dimen- sions of such aircraft, also termed jumbo jets, may be incompatible with airport gate and apron areas designed for smaller narrowbody aircraf~ 33
