San Diego International Airport

Growth painsSan Diego International Airport is following a master plan for growth, despite serious constraints on its future capacity, Martin Ashcroft discovers. San Diego International Airport has a unique history and some unique present day circumstances. In 1927, Charles A Lindbergh took off in The Spirit of St Louis from Dutch Flats, just north of the current airport, on the first leg of the journey that would end with his becoming the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic.  The following year, The San Diego airfield opened on Pacific Highway and was dedicated in his honor. It was the first federally certified airfield capable of serving all types of aircraft, including seaplanes, and is still referred to as Lindbergh Field.Over eighty years later, the airport is looking for ways to cope with its growth. San Diego has only one runway, and no realistic prospect of building another. It just doesnÔÇÖt have the space. To do so would involve the demolition of a major military facility, some government infrastructure with a main Post Office, and a serious impact on a heavily populated commercial district as well as residential developments. ÔÇ£Our estimate is that somewhere between 2018 and 2022 weÔÇÖre going to run out of capacity,ÔÇØ says Thella Bowens, CEO of San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, which took over ownership and operation of the airport in 2003 from the San Diego Unified Port District. ÔÇ£A new runway would only give us an additional 15 to 18 percent capacity, so it wouldnÔÇÖt be long before we hit the capacity wall again.ÔÇØ San Diego is already the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the United States, handling close to 600 daily arrivals and departures with an average of 48,000 passengers a day. The airport and its affiliated enterprises contribute almost $10 billion annually to the regional economy. It earns its international appellation by serving Mexico and Canada, although the majority of its flights are to and from other US cities. What kind of growth strategy can cope with these constraints? ÔÇ£We are looking at our master plan to see if we can make the operation more efficient to get a nominal increase in capacity,ÔÇØ says Bowens. ÔÇ£Then we will work with the other airport operators in the region to see if there are ways to use any of their infrastructure.ÔÇØ One of these is Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, only about 20 miles from San Diego, which has a small runway used for commercial turbo-prop operations. ÔÇ£There are limitations to how much that runway can be developed in the future,ÔÇØ she says, ÔÇ£but weÔÇÖre going to be working with all the planning agencies and the airport operators to see if there is any way to use other airports.ÔÇØ Despite these limitations, Bowens is still pursuing new carriers and new routes for existing carriers. ÔÇ£Absolutely,ÔÇØ she says. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre not at capacity yet. WeÔÇÖre looking at how we can make more use of time slots that are not heavily used right now. Our largest bank of incoming and outgoing flights is in the early morning. Then in the late afternoon thereÔÇÖs a pretty heavy bank, but thereÔÇÖs a midday bank where there is still some availability, so weÔÇÖre trying to approach carriers and see what kind of service we can get during those periods.ÔÇØ Several new routes have been added over the last few years, and also new airlines. One recent newcomer is ExpressJet, a regional carrier for Continental Airlines that has expanded to offer its own point-to-point services. AirTran Airways started a service in May last year to and from Atlanta, and added Orlando in June. The approaching capacity barrier has not spoiled San DiegoÔÇÖs appetite for investment, which is not confined to physical infrastructure. ÔÇ£We continue to develop our information technology master plan,ÔÇØ says Bowens, ÔÇ£with emerging technologies that will allow us to get more efficient use of our gates. We also updated our visual information systems for passengers, to make them more user-friendly and provide more information.ÔÇØImproved services for passengers are important in an airport like San Diego, says Bowens, because many of its destinations are relatively close. ÔÇ£The large majority of our flights are within 500-700 miles. If we donÔÇÖt have an efficient operation here, people would just as soon drive.ÔÇØThatÔÇÖs been particularly true since 9/11, she says, because of extra security precautions. ÔÇ£We work very closely with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make sure they have all the resources they need to keep the lines moving efficiently, so people donÔÇÖt feel that the line is too long to wait in and decide to drive to their destination instead of flying.ÔÇØ An interesting result was obtained from a recent customer survey on passenger satisfaction. One question was about passengersÔÇÖ perception of their wait time in the security line. ÔÇ£Our actual average wait time is about 12 minutes,ÔÇØ says Bowens, ÔÇ£but when passengers were asked, they perceived that their wait time average was about seven minutes, which says that weÔÇÖre doing a really good job of moving those lines along.ÔÇØYou canÔÇÖt talk about air travel these days without mentioning sustainability. Nobody likes noise, and nobody wants to choke on exhaust emissions, but air travel has become a way of life, for business and pleasure, and nobody seriously wants to give it up, either. ÔÇ£Our airport operates in a very affluent community and we have a major program to help those residents cope with the noise,ÔÇØ says Bowens. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a major initiative funded primarily by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and we match their money with 20 percent funds from the airport. ItÔÇÖs been a great opportunity for the community most affected by the noise to see some improvement in their environment, and weÔÇÖre proud of that.ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre doing our best at San Diego to create a sustainable environment,ÔÇØ she concludes. ÔÇ£We are educating our employees on sustainability issues and how each one of us can contribute in our own small way. San Diego wants to be at the forefront of helping to improve the environment, because we live, work and play in the most gorgeous city in the world.ÔÇØ┬á