San Francisco Airport -- Solutions Essay

This appears to be an ideal long-term solution, not only for weather-related delays, but also for the potential growth of the customer base.

Butler (2008, p. 4) suggests that one way to increase runway capacity without in fact building more runways is the use of NextGen technologies in application to air traffic control. The shape that current air traffic control technologies take is that air traffic controllers guide aircraft from a tower from which they can be seen. The lack of visibility caused by bad weather, particularly at San Francisco Airport, makes this difficult. With NextGen technologies, however, this problem can be mitigated.

According to Butler (2008, p. 4), NextGen technologies enable two aircraft to be positioned for entering closely spaced parallel runways, even when there is bad weather and limited visibility. The technology would involve more than eyes or radar equipment that can perceive the aircraft only on a physical basis. Each craft would be equipped with technology pilots can use to sense the position of the parallel craft. Each craft would also have a prescribed path that is monitored by the technology. Any deviation from this would cause an automatic abandonment of the landing attempt. Since this type of landing procedure is not allowed today, the implementation of the technology could dramatically increase the capacity at San Francisco airport, while also creating a much better ration between the capacity on days when the weather is good and those when it is not.

Long before NextGen technology was even a potential factor, Fisher (1989) suggested that San Francisco Airport was in dire need of expansion to deal with its delays and capacity issues.One suggestion emerging was the incorporation of other existing airports in its operations. In the light of Butler's acknowledgement that NextGen technology and parallel landing is certainly not the solution to all capacity issues, this might be a viable alternative in the very long-term. Oakland Airport, according to Fisher, is not only nearby, but also has the capacity to accommodate additional service, whereas San Francisco has no such capacity. This therefore appears to be one potential solution to both the capacity and delay situation.

In the long-term, San Francisco faces significant capacity and delay problems, which are unlikely to be sufficiently mitigated by the mere reconfiguration of its runways. Indeed, much more intensive solutions need to be found if the airport is to effectively manage its long-term growth concerns. A combination of NextGen technologies that would enable parallel landing even in bad weather conditions, as well as expansion to nearby facilities rather than physically adding more runways may offer the solutions to the airport's current long-term problems. This would enable much more effective operations in terms of increasing air traffic at any given time while also minimizing delays.

References

Butler, V. (2008, Mar). Increasing Airport Capacity Without Increasing Airport Size. Reason Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/5778.pdf

Eads, G.C., Kiefer, M.R., and Mehndiratte, S.R. (n.d.) Short-Term Delay Mitigation Strategies for San Francisco International Airport. Transportation Research Record 1744. Paper No. 01-2978.

Fisher, L.M. (1989). San Francisco's Aiport Must Grow, but Where? The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/26/us/san-francisco-s-airport-must-grow-but-where.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.....