The Importance of Reliever Airports in the USA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to (1) conduct a literature review of reliever airports with a focus on historical reliever airport funding, including the importance of reliever airports and reliever airport employment; and (2) to conduct a survey of reliever airports to determine (A) the total number of employees directly employed by the operating entities; and (B) a total on-airport employment estimate. The economic impacts of reliever airports will be reviewed in order to provide information to policy makers about the importance of reliever airports from an employment perspective. The literature review found little existing data pertaining to reliever airport employment. Additionally, the currency of the data could not be reliably verified. Reliever airports surveyed in this research are those designated as reliever airports by the Federal Aviation Administration in a document entitled "National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems." A total of 253 of 278 designated reliever airports were contacted via mail and afforded the opportunity to participate in the survey. A total of 25 reliever airports were not included in the study due to a lack of contact information or change in airport status. Responses from 197 (77.9 % of those contacted) airports were received at the completion of the data collection period. Survey results indicate that respondents reported 2,906 full-time operating entity employees, 419 part-time operating entity employees, and 95,489 total on-airport employees. Additionally, the ten airports that reported the highest number of operating entity employees comprise 45.7% of all responding reliever airport operating entity employees. The ten airports that reported the highest number of on-airport employees comprise 57.7% of all responding reliever on-airport employees. State, Local, and Individual Airport SourcesThe jurisdiction of an airport operating entity traditionally lies with, but not limited to, the city, county, port district or authority, airport district or authority, private, and/or state entity (NewMyer, Korir, & Mehta, 2005). These classifications suggest possible sources for employment data which may include local or state governments, and individual airport websites and employment studies.The Arizona Department of Transportation website (www.az.dot.gov) offers a link to economic impact studies of Arizona airports. These studies provide information on the total economic impact of the airport, total employment, and payroll amounts. For example, the economic impact study of Chandler Municipal Airport indicates 246 employees with an annual payroll of $5.1 million (Arizona Department of Transportation, Economic impact and aviation services, 1998). However, no segregation between peripheral and operating entity employment is made. What this data does show is Arizona's recognition of the impact aviation has on the overall economy of the state.The Minnesota Department of Transportation's website (www.dot.state.mn.us) offers an economic calculator, with which various data for the airport can ...

Regional perspectives on general aviation and reliever airports: A case study of the Phoenix metropolitan area

“…It is also important to note that research on general aviation in the United States, in any form, is sparse – especially in the regional science and/or transport geography literature. Aside from some basic work on general aviation crashes (Baker and Lamb ; Kearney and Li ; Grabowski et al ), and an early effort to evaluate the employment impacts of reliever airports (NewMyer ; NewMyer et al ), we are not aware of any work concerning the regional implications of general aviation in the US. Again, considering that the general aviation industry supports $219 billion in total economic output and 1.1 million total jobs in the United States (GAMA ), this is a huge oversite.…”