ASSESSING POTENTIAL FOR SUPERHUB AIRPORT FOR CALIFORNIA

Increasing the United States' air-transportation system capacity is a need expressed by air passengers, airlines, and aviation policymakers. This paper addresses the advantages and disadvantages of adding super hub (or wayport) facilities to the existing California air-transportat ion system. To reach a conclusion. the feasibility of adding either tw o airports. one in the San Francisco Bay Area and the other in the Los Angeles basin, or one facility located between these regions was stud ied. Results indicate that the addition of two new airports would redu ce traffic through the state because the presence of two facilities wo uld divide potential markets, which would cause flight-frequency advan tages to be lost, effectively making California a less-attractive hub. If stage-length restrictions were placed on the existing airports, in creases in traffic through the state could be expected with the additi on of one centrally located superhub (or wayport). However, such restr ictions may be politically unacceptable, and economically undesirable as well. On the other hand, if no restrictions were enforced, little t raffic would be expected through the superhub unless high-speed (super sonic) aircraft were allowed to use the new airport. Thus, the market niche for the superhub (or wayport) concept in California may be for h igh-speed aircraft that can't use existing airports, because of enviro nmental and physical constraints.