Understanding Airline and Passenger Choice in Multi-Airport Regions (2013)

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10 An extensive review of recent relevant literature was con- ducted to identify research and analysis that has been performed on the subject of airport choice by airlines and passengers in regions with multiple airports. This review included research with regard to the following: • Academic and industry journals in airport (and transporta- tion) planning, management, and economics (e.g., Journal of Airport Management, Transport Policy, Journal of Trans- port, Economics and Policy, Transportation Planning and Technology, etc.); • Airport and transportation planning textbooks; • Papers published by government and private public policy institutes (e.g., the U.S. GAO, Transportation Research Forum), and industry trade associations (e.g., Airports Council International, American Association of Airport Executives); • Other private, commercial, and government sources; • Literature review completed for ACRP Report 18: Passenger Air Service Development Techniques; and • Search engines such as EBSCO HOST, Google Scholar, Academic Search Premier, and SciVerse ScienceDirect. The key search words used in this review were variations of the following word combinations: airport choice, airport selec- tion, air passenger choice, air passenger behavior, airline choice of airport, airport choice factors, multi-airport regions, pas- senger airport choice, air passenger behavior, traveler choice of airport, air passenger preferences, airport choice in a multiple- airport region, and airport competition, among others. The selection of materials for inclusion in this study took the following considerations into account: • Because it was immediately determined that most of the literature addresses passenger choice factors rather than airline choice factors, the annotated bibliography that was developed focuses on the former; • It was determined that more emphasis and original evalua- tion would be required in this study regarding the basis on which airlines make their choices; and • The literature research focused on materials generated or published after the year 2000, unless a previously published study was of particular importance. Although not directly related to the scope of this study, the literature review encompassed statistical models related to the analysis of choice factors. Consequently, articles that dis- cuss the appropriateness and use of statistical models for ana- lyzing airport choice factors are included in the annotated bibliography. The literature review also encompassed materials related to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Commu- nity Air Service Development Program (SCASDP). Small community airports, airport authorities, cities and city com- missions, individual communities and community consortia submitted applications to SCASDP for federal grants to help them address perceived air service deficiencies. Consistent with the study team’s expectations, passenger choice factors relating to airfares, flight frequencies, and ground access to airports are most often revealed in the lit- erature. Choice factors determined by passenger type or pur- pose of travel were also topics of researcher interest. Excluding the SCASDP grant applications (many of which related directly or indirectly to problems experienced by non- hub and small hub airports with passenger leakage to larger nearby airports, frequently in search of service from a LCC), the literature review produced a list of more than 50 academic articles concerning passenger choice. A selected sample is as follows: • Pels, E., Nijkamp, P., & Rietveld, P. (2001). “Airport and airline choice in a multiple-airport region: An empirical analysis for the San Francisco Bay Area.” Taylor and Francis Journals, 35 (2), 1–9. C H A P T E R 3 Review of Relevant Literature

11 • Hess, S., Polak J.W., (2005). “Mixed logit modelling of air- port choice in multi-airport regions.” Journal of Air Trans- port Management, 11 (2), 59–68. • Blackstone, E., Buck, A., & Hakim, S. (2006). “Determi- nants of airport choice in a multi-airport region.” Atlantic Economic Journal, 34 (3), 313–326. • Tierney, S., Kuby, M. (2008). “Airline and airport choice by passengers in multi-airport regions: The effect of South- west Airlines.” Professional Geographer, 60 (1), 15–32. • Luken, B.L., Garrow, L.A. (2011). “Multiairport choice models for the New York Metropolitan Area: Application based on ticketing data.” Transportation Research Record 2206, 24–31. • Ishii J., Jun S., & Van Dender, K. (2009). “Air travel choices in multi-airport markets.” Journal of Urban Economics, 65 (2), 216–227. In addition, there are textbooks concerning the statistical techniques that researchers can apply when examining con- sumer choices for air travel. Of particular note is the following publication: • Garrow, L.A., Discrete Choice Modelling and Air Travel Demand: Theory and Applications, Burlington, Vermont, Ashgate Publishing, 2010. The review of relevant literature revealed extensive analy- sis of passenger choice factors utilizing various analytic approaches and case studies. This literature is documented in Appendix B: Literature Review. The review of relevant literature with regard to airline choice factors proved inconsequential, so additional focus in this study was placed on the airline choice issues and factors that pertain to multi-airport regions.