BACKGROUND
Airports are an integral part of the transportation system and have a major impact on the global economy. Prolonged airport disruptions resulting in the loss of critical managerial, operational, and business functions can hamper and degrade service in all segments of the aviation market including commercial air carriers, general aviation, military, and other tenants that use the facility. Airport operators are experts at emergency response. Most incidents experienced by airports last less than a day; however, if an airport were to experience a catastrophic event lasting several days or weeks, the impact on the airport, local, regional, and national economy would be great. In a prolonged disruption, lasting several weeks to possibly months, managerial, operational and business changes would be necessary. While many airports have airport emergency plans, additional information is needed to develop managerial, operational, and business continuity plans. Research is needed to develop a guidebook for airport operators to assist them in planning consistently and effectively for continuity during a prolonged disruption. This guidebook would complement rather than duplicate or replace an airport emergency plan.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research is to develop a guidebook for airport operators to plan and prepare for catastrophic events that have the potential for prolonged airport closure causing adverse impacts to the airport, and to the local, regional, and national economy. This guidebook should include concise guidelines to provide operators of all sizes and types of airports with a resource to assess, plan, and prepare for recovery that includes infrastructure, managerial, business and operational sustainability, and continuity. It should identify industry best practices and develop a critical path framework to identify the immediate and long-term needs in the preparation for catastrophic events.
STATUS
