Preparing Your Airport for Electric Aircraft and Hydrogen Technologies (2022)

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101   C H A P T E R   9 9.1 Alternatives Development Developing alternatives is a crucial part of all planning processes. It is the next step after deter- mining additional facilities that will be needed to fulfill or accommodate an airport’s future needs and demands, also known as facility requirements. Facilities vary across an airport’s functional elements, which include the airside (e.g., runway, taxiways, and hangar complexes), terminals, and landside (e.g., parking lots and ground transportation access). The alternatives development usually draws together various aspects of a planning process to identify and develop options to satisfy an airport’s needs and then further assess or evaluate the alternatives to narrow down to the preferred option. Alternatives development is a thorough and extensive process where all aspects regarding the elements of the study must be considered. Different steps and procedures should be followed to achieve the desired results in an alternatives-development process because it is usually not a “one-size-fits-all” process. It varies from one airport to the other, and its level of complexity differs from study to study. However, there are some general process steps that can be applied and adapted to fit all individual airports. Airport Master Planning Alternatives Development Process According to the FAA AC 150/5070-6B on Airport Master Plans, alternatives development includes the following 13 main steps: • Step 1: Determine the Primary and Secondary Elements. This step involves deducing and separating the specific functional elements (e.g., cargo, airside) that should be included in the initial analysis and the secondary analysis, and those that must be left out. • Step 2: Identify Preliminary Primary Element Alternatives. After identifying the primary and secondary elements, the primary elements are focused on, and alternatives for selected elements are identified and developed. • Steps 3 and 4: Screen Alternatives for Immediate List of Primary Element Alternatives. The alternatives identified and selected in Step 2 are screened and sorted out using qualitative methods. This step may rule out and/or introduce some of the primary alternatives. • Steps 5 and 6: Quantitative Analysis for Short List of Primary Element Alternatives. These steps, though similar to Steps 3 and 4, take the primary alternatives further through meticulous analysis to obtain a shortlist of the alternatives for each element being considered. • Steps 7 and 8: Combine and Analyze Primary Element Alternatives. The shortlisted alterna- tives for each primary element are combined with that of other elements to produce a logical combination. The combinations are further analyzed. Developing Alternatives

102 Preparing Your Airport for Electric Aircraft and Hydrogen Technologies • Step 9: Select Preferred Primary Element Alternative. This step selects and documents the preferred primary element alternative. • Step 10: Identify Alternatives for the Secondary Elements. The secondary elements are focused on, and alternatives for the selected elements are identified and developed. • Steps 11 and 12: Evaluate and Select Recommended Alternatives for Secondary Elements. The alternatives identified and selected in the previous step are assessed and evaluated using subjective and qualitative methods to determine and choose suitable alternatives. • Step 13: Prepare Refined Recommended Alternative. The final step involves combining both primary and secondary element recommended alternatives to obtain the refined recommended alternatives. 9.2 Integrating Electric Aircraft into Alternatives Development Facility Requirements Market assessment forecasts indicate that about 2 percent of the U.S. aircraft fleet could be electric by 2030. The first available aircraft will probably be a small aircraft, as suggested by existing electric aircraft projects under development. Although likely that the number of electric aircraft will initially be low and concentrated at airports with air carriers willing to pioneer this technology or in states that could provide financial incentives to private owners to acquire or convert their aircraft, airports will plan and prepare to integrate these new aircraft into their master plan. The uncertainty of the future electric aviation demand should not be an obstacle to developing facility requirements and can be estimated at a local level. Airports should initiate discussions with their main stakeholders, especially airlines, in order to understand if they are planning to integrate electric aircraft in their fleet in the short or medium terms and the implications on their airport operations. A good, recent example is Cape Air, a regional airline based in the Northeast mainly operating Cessna 402s and Tecnam P2012 Travelers. In 2020, the airline signed a purchase option for 92 Eviation Alice aircraft. It is anti- cipated that other regional airlines may integrate electric aircraft in the next years, and airports should not wait to discuss their vision of electric aircraft with their local stakeholders. Developments for Electric Aircraft Electric aircraft will require new infrastructure investments on the following airside, terminal, and landside operations of an airport: • Airside: The initial impacts will center on the charging infrastructure and power capabilities. Three types of charging equipment were identified in this study: – Fixed Chargers: With this type of equipment, an electric aircraft will have to move to this location to recharge/refuel. The development of alternatives must address two problems: the location and the number of chargers. For commercial aircraft, these charging infra- structure—such as fixed 400 Hz power units—will most likely be implemented at the gate, which could be the most efficient placement. Overnight charging could require airports to equip their existing remote overnight parking or expand available aircraft parking spaces. For smaller aircraft, FBOs would provide charging stations similar to fuel charging stations. At larger airports, a platform could be created that is dedicated to electric aircraft charging any type of aircraft. However, during this process, airports should coordinate and work with their stakeholders to find the most suitable solution. – Mobile Chargers: Trucks with a supercharger-like device could be charged off-ramp and brought to the aircraft for charging. During the alternatives development process, airport

Developing Alternatives 103   planners should identify and assess potential locations where the trucks could be charged within the airport property and where these trucks could park after their operations. Charging these supercharger-like devices could be done on an off-airport property, and the airport and stakeholders should coordinate on the entrance of these trucks to the apron. – Battery Swapping: Assuming that changing batteries can be performed at the gate or stand, airport planners should identify and assess potential locations of infrastructure to store and charge batteries. • Passenger Terminal: Electric aircraft will not directly affect the design of this infrastruc- ture due to its shape and size, but the operational process of airlines will most likely change, especially at regional airports. The operational model of these airlines will drive any terminal modification, and airports will have to become multimodal platforms between all future transportation modes. However, since the terminal building design will not be driven by the aircraft fleet mix but more by the airline operational strategies, the alternatives development process will not differ from the current FAA standards of the AC 150/5070-6B on Airport Master Plans. • Landside: The emergence of electric aircraft will most likely not affect landside infrastructure directly. However, because airline operational and business models might change, airports— especially small and regional ones—will benefit the most from these aircraft. Local commu- nities are searching to gain more connectivity with the outside world, and these airports will be crucial to avoid encroachment. Airports will transition to multimodal transportation platforms, which should be considered during the alternatives development phase.