<p>While the general public may be familiar with commercial airports, there are thousands of small General Aviation (GA) airports serving communities across the United States. Many of these airports are under pressure to survive and to bring in more revenue without impinging on the community and environment. Many organizations and governmental agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), now recognize the value of sustainable development and importance of operation to airport sustainability. Achieving operational sustainability is a means that may help airports on sustainable development and has positive impacts on airports’ economic viability, natural resource conservation, and social responsibility. However, airport operational sustainability is rarely defined in a consistent, measurable manner (Johnson & Gu, 2017).</p><p><br></p><p>This study explored the understanding of airport operational sustainability among five GA Regional and Local airports. Based on the findings, a new definition of airport operational sustainability for U.S Regional and Local GA airports was proposed. A set of performance metrics for airport operational sustainability was developed. The outcomes of the study may help airport shareholders contribute to airport sustainability planning through a better understanding of sustainability principles<a>. A set of performance metrics for airport operational sustainability </a>may be used to quantify the sustainability achievements of airports and help airports measure their performance.</p><p></p>

<div> <p>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) <i>Report on the Sustainable Master Plan Pilot Program and Lessons Learned </i>published in December 2012 showed that airports of all sizes can benefit from incorporating sustainability in their master plans. Global aviation organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Airports Council International (ACI) have been in the forefront in championing aviation sustainability. While incorporating sustainability in airport planning is highly encouraged, there are challenges associated with such a process. Some of the challenges experienced by airport managers in planning and implementation sustainability are lack of financial capability, and lack of skilled sustainability specialists. In 2009, FAA launched the Airport Sustainability - Airport Improvement Program (AIP), to provide grants to airports that were willing to invest the time and resources in preparing airport master plans that incorporate sustainability issues. To date, 44 airports have been funded through the FAA Airport Sustainability AIP grant. Six of the 44 airports are in the category of small hub airports as classified by the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). The objective of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the approaches to sustainability planning used by the six small hub airports in the FAA program. The researcher chose a case study design to conduct an exploratory case study with multiple cases. The results of the study show that the approaches used by the six airports vary depending on the specific airport needs and resources available. Based on the study results, the researcher concludes there are more similarities than differences in the approaches airports have used to incorporate sustainability in the master planning process.</p> </div> <br>

<p>  </p> <p>Although airports of all sizes have incorporated sustainability practices into planning, there is a gap in literature concerning the impacts of sustainability initiatives on airport operations and stakeholders. This multiple case study sought to explore the impact assessment methods used by six small hub airports (cases) that received the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport sustainability Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants to prepare airport sustainability planning documents.</p> <p>The objective of the study was twofold. The first objective was to gain in-depth understanding of sustainability metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and sustainability impact assessment methods and tools used by small hub airports. The second objective was to develop a preliminary framework for assessing the impacts of sustainability initiatives in airports. Three types of data were collected airport sustainability planning documents, archival records, and interviews with 14 airport executives and two airport planning consultants. Sustainability planning processes, sustainability assessment methods and tools, and sustainability metrics and KPIs were identified from data for each case and compared to one of the most comprehensive industry-specific airport sustainability rating systems, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) <em>Report 119: Protype Airport Sustainability Rating System: Characteristics, Viability, and Implementation Options</em>. Interview responses from airport executives and consultants were used to corroborate information in the sustainability planning documents.</p> <p>The findings of this study showed more commonalities than differences in the approaches to sustainability impact assessment by the six small hub airports in this study. Commonalities were evident in the criteria for selecting sustainability initiatives, indicating that cost and return on investment were the major factors. In addition, small hub airports in this study reported similar challenges on tracking sustainability metrics and KPIs, indicating that more work is needed in this area. The differences noted were driven by airport operating conditions such as geographical location and local community goals. </p>

<p>  </p> <p>Aircraft noise is one of the most significant environmental concerns for the aviation industry, and it adversely affects the physical and mental health of community members who are in close proximity to airports. The operations and expansion of airports and land use planning are affected because of the community’s adverse reaction to such annoyances. Aircraft operations and fleet mix information are required when airport managers and stakeholders execute the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) to compute the noise metrics; however, these data are unavailable from over 2,000 United States non-primary General Aviation (GA) airports that lack full-time air traffic control facilities or personnel. </p> <p>This study developed a low-cost noise assessment technology for non-towered GA airports. The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) messages were obtained using an inexpensive ADS-B receiver. A barometric pressure calibration was applied to improve the aircraft operations estimation. A fleet mix database was created by linking the collected ADS-B data to an FAA-registered aircraft database containing U.S.-registered aircraft information (such as types of aircraft and engines). Specific aircraft information was obtained by filtering the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) identification code from the obtained ADS-B records. A set of 20 advanced aircraft performance parameters was constructed to determine the operation mode and corresponding power setting. The corresponding noise levels were determined using the EUROCONTROL Aircraft Noise and Performance (ANP) database.</p> <p>The testing and validation results from the case study at the Purdue University Airport (ICAO Code: KLAF) demonstrated the developed low-cost approach could identify aircraft noise events, and the accuracy of modeled noise data was assessed with an average error of 4.50 dBA. Therefore, the developed approach appears to be an affordable means of monitoring aircraft noise at non-towered GA airports.  </p>