newly introduced

1. Airportplanning and management question bank
Airports and airport systems:
1. How many airports exist in the United States?
2. Who owns airports in the United States?
3. What is the difference between a private airport and a public-use airport?
4. What are the different types of airports in the United States, as described
in the NASP?
5. What are the leading airports in the United States in terms of enplaned
passengers?
6. What are the leading airports in the United States in terms of aircraft
operations?
7. What are the different hub classifications described in the NPIAS?
8. What are the requirements necessary for an airport to be classified as a
reliever airport?
9. What purposes do general aviation airports serve?
10. What federal agencies exist in part to support and supervise airport operations?
11. What independent professional agencies exist to support airports?
12. What specific rules and regulations are used to operate airports?
13. What are advisory circulars? What purpose do they serve for airport
management?
Airports and airport systems:
Organization and administration
1. Who typically owns airports in the United States?
2. Who typically owns airports in countries other than the United States?
3. What is privatization?
4. What is the difference between a port authority and an airport authority
form of airport ownership and operation?
5. What is the purpose of an organization chart?
6. What are the principal duties of a typical airport manager at a mediumsize
commercial airport?
7. Why is public relations such an important function of airport management?
8. What are some of the basic principles underlying the public relations
process at an airport?
9. What are the primary objectives of an airport’s public relations process?
10. What types of formal training and education programs exist for current
and future airport managers?
Airports and airport systems: A
historical and legislative perspective
1. Who established the first airmail service in the United States? How long
did it last?
2. What was the primary purpose of the Kelly Act?

2. 3. What was the primary purpose of the Air Commerce Act of 1926?
4. How did the Bureau of Air Commerce become established?
5. When did the federal government first give financial support for the development
of airports?
6. What was the overriding purpose of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938?
7. What was the difference between the Civil Aeronautics Board and the
Civil Aeronautics Administration?
8. What was the function of DLAND?
9. What was the purpose of the Federal Airport Act of 1946?
10. What were some of the provisions that had to be adhered to before
federal aid was granted under the Federal-Aid Airports Program?
11. What was the main concern of the aviation industry that led to the Federal
Aviation Act of 1958?
12. What were the federal aviation administrator’s major responsibilities
under the 1958 act?
13. What was the purpose of the Department of Transportation Act of
1966?
14. How were revenues raised under the Airport and Airway Revenue Act
of 1970?
15. What are some advantages of the user charge/trust fund approach?
16. What is the PGP? How does it work?
17. What were some of the important amendments under the Airport and
Airway Development Act Amendments of 1976.
18. How did the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 affect the airport system
in the United States?
19. What is the “essential air service” program?
20. What is the purpose of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of
1979?
21. What was the primary purpose of the Airport and Airway Safety and
Capacity Expansion Act of 1987?
22. What were some of the features of the Aviation Safety and Capacity Act
of 1990?
23. How did funding to airports change under AIR -21?
24. Why were Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) finally approved by Congress?
List some of the provisions under the Aviation and Capacity and
Expansion Act of 1990 pertaining to PFCs.
25. What is the State Block Grant Pilot Program?
26. The Military Airport Program?
27. How did the tremendous growth in air travel during the 1980s and
1990s affect the airport system?
28. What are some of the biggest problems faced by the airport system
during the early part of the twenty-first century?
29. What was the purpose of the ATSA?
30. How has airport security legislation changed since the events of September
11, 2001?
Part 2:-The components of the airport
1. What are the four components that make up an airport?
2. How are runways identified on an airfield?
3. What is the difference between a displaced threshold and a relocated
threshold?

3. 4. What are the differences between visual, nonprecision instrument, and
precision instrument runways?
5. What is SMGCS? How does it help airfield operations?
6. How are taxiways identified on an airfield?
7. What types of taxiways exist on an airfield?
8. What are the imaginary surfaces described in FAR Part 77 for? What are
the dimensions of these surfaces?
9. How does an ILS work?
10. What makes the GPS system so different from other navigational aid
technologies?
11. What types of technologies exist on airfields to aid aircraft on approach
to landing?
12. What types of airport beacons exist? What do the different lighting
combinations mean?
13. What are the two sets of flight rules under which airports may operate?
14. What are the different types of signs that are located on an airfield?
How are they marked? What do they mean?
15. What are some of the facilities on the airfield that help detect and communicate
wind and weather information?
Airspace and air traffic control
1. How did the implementation of radar affect the nation’s air traffic control
system?
2. How is the current administrative operating structure of air traffic control
organized in the United States?
3. What is the ATCSCC? What purpose does the ATCSCC serve in the ATC
systems?
4. What are the different classes of airspace that exist in the current NAS?
How do these classes vary in location and air traffic controlregulations?
5. What purposes to ATCTs serve at airports?
6. How do contract towers differ from federalair traffic controltowers?
7. What are the different types of special-use airspace? How does each affect
the movement of aircraft in their vicinity?
8. What are TFRs? Why have TFRs been implemented? How do TFRs affect
airspace and the air traffic control system?
9. What is free flight? How does free flight expect to change aircraft navigation
through the NAS?
10. How does GPS work?
11. What technologies exist that enhance the capabilities of GPS?
12. What are the technological enhancements to communications associated
with NAS modernization?
13. What is Automated Dependent Surveillance (ADS)? How does ADS-A
differ from ADS-B?
14. What types of weather reporting technologies are being developed to
improve the safety and efficiency of aircraft traveling in the NAS?
15. What are some of the air traffic management strategies being developed
to enhance aircraft movement through the NAS?
Airport terminals and ground access
1. What are some of the various terminal design concepts that have existed

4. over the history of civil-use airports?
2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each type of
airport terminal geometry?
3. How did the advent of APM systems affect the construction of airport
terminals?
4. What is the mobile lounge concept?
5. What are off-airport terminals? What potential do they have in the future
of airport terminals?
6. What are the different aircraft parking configurations that may exist at
airports? When is each type of parking configuration most applicable?
7. What is a Gantt chart? How can Gantt charts help airport management?
8. What are the different types of gate-usage agreements that airports
negotiated with aircraft operators? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each type of agreement?
9. What are the different processes that comprise the passenger handling
system at airport terminals?
10. In what ways are passengers categorized while traveling through airport
terminals?
11. What are the required passenger processing facilities that exist at the
airport terminal?
12. What are CUTE systems?
13. What are FIS? What passengers typically require FIS?
14. Into what two categories is airport ground access typically divided?
15. What are MPOs? What authority do MPOs have over airport ground
access?
16. What are the different modes that typically provide ground access to
airports?
17. What are some factors influencing the demand for ground access?
18. What are the various parking facilities that are needed at airports?
19. What are some of the technologies that exist and are being developed
to improve ground access to airports?
Airport operations
and financial management
1. To what airports does FAR Part 139 apply?
2. What are the differences between rigid pavements and flexible pavements?
3. What is meant by vibratory or dynamic testing?
4. What are some of the symptoms of potential pavement failures?
5. What are the typical useful life spans of airfield pavements?
6. What is the difference between pavement maintenance and pavement
rehabilitation?
7. How is an airport’s ARFF index determined?
8. What are the ARFF requirements of an airport based on its index?
9. Why is a snow and ice control plan so important at some airports?
10. What are the most common methods for snow and ice removal from
airfields?
11. What are some of the goals of an airport’s safety inspection program?
12. What are some of the more common procedures associated with an airport’s
safety inspection program?
13. What are some of the hazards associated with birds and wildlife in the

5. vicinity of an airfield?
14. What are some of the control techniques associated with bird and
wildlife hazard management?
Airport security
1. How have threats to aviation security evolved since the beginning of
civil aviation?
2. How has airport security traditionally adapted to civil aviation threats?
3. What are some of the most significant changes in airport security as a
result of the events of September 11, 2001?
4. What is the organizational structure of the Transportation Security Administration?
5. What are the various security-sensitive areas found at airports, as defined
by Transportation Security Regulations?
6. What is required for an applicant to receive an SIDA badge?
7. What can cause an applicant to be refused an SIDA badge?
8. What are the procedures that exist as part of passenger screening?
9. What technologies are used to perform the screening of carry-on baggage
at airports?
10. What technologies are used to perform the screening of checked luggage
at airports?
11. What is piggybacking?
12. What are some of the technologies that are used to controlaccess to
sensitive security areas at airports?
13. What is biometrics? What are some of the technologies that are considered
to apply biometrics to the airport security environment?
14. How does airport security differ between commercial service airports
and general aviation airports?
15. What is CAPPS II?
16. What is the Trusted Traveler Program?
17. How might airports better prepare themselves for future threats to civil
aviation security?
Airport financial management
1. What is airport accounting?
2. What are the different types of budget strategies found at airports?
3. What are the four categories of O&M expenses that exist at airports?
What specific expenses lie within each category?
4. What are the differences between operating and nonoperating revenues?
5. What areas of airport operations are principal areas of potential litigation
against airports?
6. What are the primary differences between the residual cost approach
and compensatory approach?
7. What is a majority-in-interest clause? How do these clauses affect airport
management?
8. How are airport facilities and services priced?
9. What grant programs exist on the federal level for airports? How are
these programs funded? How may funds from these programs be used
at airports?
10. What types of financing programs, or bond issues, are available to airports?
11. How do bond ratings affect the financial strategies of airports?
12. What forms of privatization exist at airports? How do each of these

6. strategies differ?
Aiport public administration
and planning
1. How do airports contribute to the economic prosperity of the communities
they serve?
2. What types of economic activity are said to be directly generated by airport
activity?
3. What types of economic activity are said to be indirectly generated by
airport activity?
4. What is a multiplier effect?
5. How have airport-airline relations changed since the years before airline
deregulation?
6. How are contracts between airports and the concessions that serve the
airport negotiated?
7. What issues arise between airport management and the general aviation
community they serve?
8. When did airport noise become a major environmental issue?
9. What Federal Aviation Regulations are concerned with aircraft and airport
noise issues?
10. What are the different methods of estimating noise impacts of airport
activity?
11. What are the most common noise abatement strategies employed at
airports?
12. How does FAR Part 161 aid airports in reducing noise impacts?
13. What are the most common pollutants affecting air quality emitting
from airport activity?
14. How is hazardous waste classified?
15. What does the Clean Water Act do to reduce hazards to water quality
from airport activity?
16. What are externalities?
Airport Planning
1. What are some of the various types of airport planning studies. What is
the focus of each type of study?
2. What is meant by an airport planning horizon? What is the typical planning
horizon for an airport master plan?
3. Although the NPIAS is considered the national airport system plan, it
often isn’t a complete plan. Why is this?
4. What is the purpose of regional-level system planning? What are the
most critical issues addressed by regional-level system planning of airports?
5. How does state-level system planning differ from regional-level system
planning?
6. What are the primary objectives of the airport master plan?
7. What is described in the inventory section of the airport master plan?
8. What is an airport layout plan? What is included on an airport layout
plan drawing?
9. What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative forecasting?
10. What are some of the more common qualitative forecasting methods?
11. What is the difference between causal models and time-series quantitative
forecasting models?
12. How is regression analysis used in forecasting?

7. 13. What elements of aviation demand are typically forecasted in airport
planning studies?
14. What is the difference between local operations and itinerant operations?
15. What areas of the airport are commonly considered within an airport
capacity analysis? What is the importance of airport capacity analysis?
16. How is an Airport Reference Code determined?
17. What is a wind rose?
18. How is the necessity of a crosswind runway determined?
19. What is meant by a runway clear zone?
20. What is the primary objective of airport terminal area planning?
21. What factors are commonly taken into consideration in planning the
airport terminal area?
22. What steps are involved in estimating the space requirements in planning
airport terminals?
23. What is an aircraft fleet mix?
24. What are some of the potential revenue-generating areas to be considered
in airport planning?
25. What is the process involved with environmental planning for airport
development?
Airport Capacity and Delay
1. What is the theoretical definition of capacity?
2. What is the difference between throughput capacity and practicalcapacity?
3. What is PHOCAP? What is PANCAP?
4. What are the various factors that affect capacity and delay?
5. How do runway configurations affect capacity and delay?
6. What is the required lateral separation of parallel runways that allows
simultaneous operations under IFR?
7. What is LAHSO? What are the advantages and disadvantages of LAHSO
with respect to airport capacity?
8. What is ROT? How does ROT affect airport capacity?
9. How does an aircraft fleet mix affect capacity at an airport?
10. What is a time-space diagram? How can a time-space diagram be used
in estimating runway capacity?
11. How are the FAA airport capacity approximation charts used?
12. What is ASV?
13. How is a mix index calculated?
14. What are two of the accepted simulation models that exist to estimate
airport capacity?
15. What is the theoretical definition of delay?
16. What is meant by congestive delay?
17. How is queuing theory used to analytically estimate delay?
18. What are the two primary sources used by the FAA to gather aircraft delay
data?
19. What are the various approaches to reducing delay?
The future of airport management
2. How will future changes in air carrier strategies affect airport management?
3. How will the A-380 affect the planning, design, and management of airport
facilities?
4. What is SATS? How will SATS affect civil air transportation? How will
SATS affect airport management?
5. In your opinion, what is the future of civil air transportation, in general,

8. and airport management, in particular?