Marcelo Lima

Date of Award

12-1-2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Aviation

Abstract

Medium hub airports in the United States vary in their governance structures. Airports are operated by an airport authority, transportation authority, city, county or state governance. These different types of governance structures establish the guidelines of how an airport will operate. The predicted growth in air travel in the coming years has inauspiciously coincided with expected cuts in federal airport funding programs. Airport profits, operating costs and cost per enplaned passenger were compared among the five governing structures to evaluate financial performances among the airport groups. The comparison was done using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey tests. The results of the study indicate if financial differences exist among airports based on their governance structure. Managerial control was examined among the five airport groups to help indentify possible reasons for the similarities and differences. The results revealed that differences did exist among the groups. These differences, however, were not found among all the groups in all three categories. Many of the results were found to be inconsistent with each other leaving the possibility for other factors contributing to the financial differences among these airports.

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