Human trafficking has emerged as a critical public concern, with tens of millions of global victims who are moved across international borders and between states using various forms of transportation, including buses, trains, and airplanes, among others. Traffickers may be transporting victims through airports, or victims may be traveling of their own accord, unaware that the job opportunity at...

An airport’s insurance program is just one component of its overall risk management program. An insurance program can be quite complex, addressing types of coverage, limits, retention amounts, and legal and contractual issues, among other factors. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 248: Airport Insurance Requirements provides best practices for airports developi...

Airfield markings are critical visual cues and are vital for runways and taxiways. During airfield construction projects, it is often required to remove or obliterate the existing pavement markings and apply temporary markings. These methods can leave scarring that is visible on the airfield for years. Such traces of former markings can be mistaken for active airfield markings by pilots and gro...

Despite dedicated efforts involving changes in technologies and procedures, the number of annual runway incursions in the United States has shown little to no improvement. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 246: Airside Operations Safety: Understanding the Effects of Human Factors provides a review of the current state of human factors research and the related r...

Airports across the United States are owned and operated by a wide variety of governance structures, each with their own features and historical legacies. As the common refrain from airport professionals goes, if you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport. Similarly, if you’ve seen one airport’s governance structure, you’ve seen one airport’s governance structure. The TRB Airport Cooperat...

An aviation system is composed of airports that are publicly owned and open for public use within a defined geographic area—a region, a state, or multiple nearby states. For example, a metropolitan region may have an airport serving commercial airlines and several general aviation (GA) relievers or other GA airports that cater to nonairline traffic. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program'...

Urban Air Mobility (UAM), or its generalized version, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), is an emerging aerial transportation approach that involves the operation of highly automated aircraft for a safe and efficient system to transport passengers or cargo at lower altitudes of airspace within urban, suburban, and exurban areas. UAM initiatives are advancing in many communities and will likely bring ...

Periodically, airports want to redesign their workforce and organizational structure. They are seeking to be responsive to their current and emerging business needs, which can change over time. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 240: Primer for Airport Organizational Redesign provides guidelines for airport leaders on strategies and steps as they navigate the pr...

As technology continues to evolve, airports are seeking opportunities to create a touchless experience along the passenger journey. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to eliminate many common touchpoints, which are potential points of disease transmission. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 241: Toward a Touchless Airport Journey presents solutions f...

Developments in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology and the seemingly endless applications of this technology offer society a broad spectrum of enhancements and solutions to many problems. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 238: Airfield Design for Large Unmanned Aircraft Systems—A Guide provides a fundamental understanding of large UAS (L-UAS) and t...

Airports use Noise and Operations Monitoring Systems (NOMSs) to collect, manage, analyze, and communicate data such as flight tracks and procedures, aircraft identification, noise measurements, noise abatement program performance, and weather. NOMSs are also used to respond to community noise complaints and provide stakeholders with information about aircraft activity and noise, thus fostering ...

Design innovation for electrically powered and hybrid-electric aircraft is accelerating rapidly. While there are many potential benefits of electric aircraft and hydrogen technologies, not all air service can be replaced by electrically powered aircraft in the near term. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 236: Preparing Your Airport for Electric Aircraft and Hyd...

Airport user surveys have traditionally been used to obtain information for facility planning. More recently, however, surveys are being used to measure satisfaction as a way to identify actions that could improve the customer experience and increase non-aeronautical revenues, particularly those from passenger terminal concessions. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research R...

Proper maintenance and repair of concrete airfield pavements is critical to the longevity of these pavements and their ability to safely support airport operations over their design life. However, these activities can be costly and operationally disruptive. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 234: Rapid Slab Repair and Replacement of Airfield Concrete Pavement is...

Biometrics is one of the most powerful, but misunderstood technologies used at airports today. The ability to increase the speed of individual processes, as well as offer a touch-free experience throughout an entire journey is a revolution that is decades in the making. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's  ACRP Research Report 233: Airport Biometrics: A Primer is designed to hel...

The airport environment is facing a shortage of individuals who can lead, guide, manage, and carry out airport-centric initiatives to support the aviation industry. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 232: Playbook for Cultivating Talent in the Airport Environment provides inspiring, proven, and readily implementable techniques for airport leaders and managers to...

Today’s airports have become much more than transportation hubs. They are increasingly becoming places where people dine, shop, relax, work, and interact. This expanded role comes with challenges as airports try to understand and address the needs of their diverse customer base. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 231: Evaluating the Traveler's Perspective to Imp...

Airports and their support industries have changed significantly over the past several decades. It is imperative that academic programs continue to evolve with these changes to better prepare the next generation of airport industry professionals. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 230: Enhancing Academic Programs to Prepare Future Airport Industry Professionals ...

Airport collaborative decision making (ACDM) is a process in which the stakeholders of operations—airport operators, the air traffic control tower staff, flight operators, ground handlers, fixed-base operators, and others—share information to improve policies, planning, real-time coordination, and decisions regarding operations. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Repor...

Awareness of the vulnerability of the country’s existing electrical system has increased with the frequency of short-term blackouts and long-term utility outages. Power outages impact airport operations by causing flight delays, extended layovers, disruptions in cargo operations, loss of revenue, and limitations in airports’ ability to provide emergency support. The TRB Airport Cooperative Rese...