Aviation system studies are designed to define the number and mix of airport types, their general location and approximate time of need, as well as the character of airport facilities necessary to meet forecast air service needs of a community, region or state. A recommended aviation system emerges only after full consideration is given the cost, environmental, and aviation implications of a variety of alternative system configurations. Other considerations in the planning effort are airspace utilization, expansion potential, the ground transportation network, suitability of terrain as well as existing and planned land use, and development and operating costs.
With the increased need for economic development and innovative financing at airports, aviation system planning has been used effectively to undertake non-traditional studies to promote or encourage industrial development at airports, track economic impacts, or improve air service. In this regard, States have broad leeway concerning special studies and are empowered to do land use studies, airport noise studies, data collection efforts including aircraft operations counts, pavement surveys, obstruction identification, access evaluation, and air service studies. In addition, system plans can include economic impact analyses, special air cargo/mail analyses, AWOS studies, and financial analyses and management reviews. Or, if the State would desire to assist the individual airports with economic development and marketing, airport business planning studies can be developed. Again, the possibilities are much more flexible than usually thought.
R. A. Wiedemann & Associates' president is one of the most experienced aviation system planners in the nation. New and innovative approaches to system planning methods have been developed by Mr. Wiedemann for use by states, regions, or metropolitan areas. Inclusion of multimodal transportation interface planning, management and pricing techniques for aviation demand dispersion, computer assisted forecasting and facilities planning, and indepth contingency planning for unexpected occurrences during implementation, have all been combined with thorough analysis procedures to enable R. A. Wiedemann & Associates to remain at the leading edge of aviation system planning.
R.A. Wiedemann & Associates' principal is one of the most experienced aviation system planners in the nation. Plans for which management and direction, as well as technical inputs, have been provided cover the spectrum from the metropolitan and regional level to states and even multi-state, national or international level studies. It should be noted that in each of these plans, system planning techniques using innovative original computer applications were employed. Among the many projects in which Mr. Wiedemann has participated are the following:
R.A. Wiedemann & Associates performed an update to New York’s aviation system plan in 2009. The project involved updating the state airport system plan to: identify changes in the system; address current issues and significant changes; and provide input to capital development decisions. The SASP update was strategic in its focus in an effort to conserve funds and direct efforts toward only the strategic elements necessary to produce capital development recommendations for System airports.
The forecasting element of the Update was streamlined to make use of existing sources, including NYS-provided forecasts that were substantially reviewed and adjusted where necessary based upon airport master plans. Additionally, the FAA Regional Air Service Study was used as the forecast source for JFK, LGA, Stewart, Islip, and Westchester County airports.
R. A. Wiedemann & Associates, Inc., was selected to perform a statewide aviation system plan update for Delaware. The phase one process involves the development of issues, goals, and objectives, the inventory of system conditions, the forecast of aviation activity, the estimation of demand/capacity relationships, and the development of facility requirements. The result of the work should identify where bottlenecks in capacity are anticipated to occur. In addition, changes to state policies, fuel taxes, airport zoning, and legislative changes are all open for consideration in this planning effort. A consensus is being sought by the inclusion of aviation industry professionals, businesses, and political entities in the planning process.
Delaware is currently facing decisions concerning the use of their Civil Air Terminal at Dover Air Force Base as a corporate aviation facility. National security issues have closed the Base to civilian use in the past and could do so again in the future. A question to be resolved in the system planning context involves the use of nearby Delaware Airpark as an alternative. If selected, it would undergo expansion to meet corporate aviation standards. Other issues involve the airline service initiative in Wilmington by Delta, the support of the State for off-airport obstruction removal, and the preservation of privately owned, public use airports in the State.
R. A. Wiedemann & Associates was selected to assist Wilbur Smith Associates in the updating of the Pennsylvania Aviation System Plan. The Wiedemann & Associates work responsibilities included the air service analysis component, the airport facility requirements generation, the capital costing portions of the plan, and the allocation of costs by eligible funding agency. The air service work included the development of air service actual and potential enplanement forecasts, route feasibility analysis, and recommended routes. Also included were drive-fly cost comparisons for all commuter hub connection flights. The airport facility requirements involved the development of physical facility improvements at each airport in each alternative. These improvements were costed and aggregated to show the relative costs of each alternative. The recommended plan was also costed and phased to show capital requirements during various timeframes. The eligibility of each airport’s capital program for federal, state, local, and private funding was also depicted.
R.A. Wiedemann & Associates has completed Phases I and II of the Delaware Aviation System Plan Update. The purpose of the update is to take a new look at the classifications of airports and heliports and provide guidelines for their orderly development. In addition, the study served as a forum for public input to the State aviation policy decision process.
In Phase I, R.A. Wiedemann & Associates prepared five interim reports that function as chapters in the final technical report. These include: Issues, Goals, and Objectives; Data Collection and Inventory; Forecast of Aviation Demand; Airport Demand/Capacity Analysis; and Facility Needs. From this start, alternatives were developed in Phase II that examined the best method of accommodating forecast aviation demand through the year 2015. In addition, a number of policy issues were developed including methods to best protect the recommended aviation system and ensure long-term air transportation access to Delaware. The long-term question involving publicly owned airports in Kent County was addressed by the Phase II portion of the study. In this regard, it was recommended that the State purchase Delaware Airpark and operate it as a mini-system with the Civil Air Terminal at Dover AFB.
Faced with a constantly changing future, accurate predictions of aviation demand have not always stood the test of time. This is certainly the case of both airline and general aviation activity in New York State. In many cases, the change in activity levels at an airport would also signal a policy or priority change in either the development or funding of that facility. Other related problems would develop when forecasts were developed by different firms or agencies for the same airport. Seldom would these forecasts be consistent, particularly if they were completed in different timeframes.
Recent experience has shown that the airline mergers (particularly the USAir-Piedmont merger) have changed the structure of the airline industry resulting in renewed emphasis on hub-and-spoke networks. These changes can impact a commercial service airport in a boom or bust manner. General aviation, on the other hand, has never recovered from the recessions of the late 1970's and early 1980's. Analysts believe that a fundamental change in the demand for general aviation is underway as tastes and preferences of the American public continue to evolve.
To better track the aviation activity within the State and to remedy the problems mentioned above, the NYSDOT selected R.A. Wiedemann & Associates to create a forecasting tool on a user-friendly computer system that could enjoy wide-spread utilization. This study will eliminate much of the need to perform costly updates to outdated forecasts. The end product software was distributed to the NYSDOT Aviation Bureau and to each of the Regional Planning Agencies in the State and training sessions were provided by R.A. Wiedemann & Associates.
The aviation system of the State of New Jersey is endangered. Roughly 80 percent of the airports are privately owned. Many have closed and continue to close due, primarily to economic pressures and the rising value of land for other uses. The purpose of the aviation system plan is to determine what exists in terms of statewide airport capacity versus predicted demand. A range of alternatives have been identified and evaluated in order to determine a recommended system.
In New Jersey, there are a number of very sensitive issues that have been dealt with including negative public reaction to any airport expansion plans, a private airport owners group that believes the State DOT hasn't done enough to promote their interests, and an environmental lobby opposed to any increase in aircraft noise exposure, wetlands degradation, etc. With all of these conflicting forces, Mr. Wiedemann was retained to develop the aviation system plan after one of the subconsultants went out of business early in the project. The approach developed by Mr. Wiedemann has relied upon factual, defendable findings and recommendations that can be scrutinized in a public forum. Of particular interest is the matrix analysis of environmental impacts of the alternative aviation systems, the forecasts of aviation demand, and the computerized database of system airports. The recommended alternative has found that an expansion of the existing system provides a better means of adding airport capacity than building new airports.
In 1975, an aviation and airports system plan was prepared for the State of Delaware. Since that time, several localized aviation planning studies have been undertaken throughout the State and many of Delaware's public use airports have undergone significant changes in terms of services and facilities. Additionally, air carrier and general aviation demands have changed since the 1975 plan was prepared. As an example of these changes, the Delaware Transportation Authority has entered into a joint-use agreement with the United States Air Force to enable multi-engine aircraft to utilize the runway facilities of Dover Air Force Base. To cope with these changes the Delaware Transportation Authority undertook to update the current plan.
An issue addressed in the Delaware System Plan concerned the questions of airport economic feasibility and implementation. It was imperative that the proposed system study address the problems of airport financing since most general aviation airports are not typically enterprises which produce large amounts of revenue. Most local governments are hard pressed to provide sufficient airport operating revenue and encounter great difficulty at the prospect of funding an airport construction improvement program or acquiring a complete new private facility. A realistic look at the alternative financing programs including sources of revenues, matching ratios, the airport's costs and benefits, and criteria to be used in formulating fiscal policies was made. Careful attention was given to identifying and describing an economically feasible aviation system which could be implemented, as contrasted to development of a plan which failed to address the realities of programming and implementation.
The Delaware Aviation and Airport System Plan, also, provided a public forum where both public and private aviation interests could discuss individual airport needs and aviation related problems or challenges. Functioning in this manner, the aviation system plan served to create a general awareness of the need for a systematic approach to air transportation planning. Further, this process served to coordinate the efforts of various state agencies, local governments, airport sponsors, and interested aviation groups.
Mr. Wiedemann served as the Project Manager on this challenging assignment which also featured the utilization of Raymond A. Syms. In this project, the NYSDOT desired to examine Upstate New York's helicopter and heliport system with specific emphasis on the helicopter medical evacuation segment of the system.
Numerous issues among the helicopter community came to light through this study process including questions about the increased privatization of Medevac service, the role of the NYS Police, other law enforcement, and various military installations in conducting Medevac Operations, the need for downtown public-use heliports at each of the Upstate's Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and the need for additional Medevac coverage of the Northern New York area.
The Helicopter System Plan addressed all of these critical issues and also provided a planning document containing helicopter design standards, a model heliport zoning ordinance, forecasts of helicopter demand (the demand was divided into seven different use categories and forecasted independently), system capacity estimation, and facility requirements recommendations. In addition, policy recommendations for NYSDOT action were developed that featured interagency coordination with the NYS Department of Health.
The completed Helicopter System Plan has been considered one of the most innovative and comprehensive plans of its kind. Through the system planning methods used, it has emerged as one of the few true system planning efforts that considers all of the components of the rotorcraft mode of transportation.
The Downstate New York General Aviation System Plan was one of the final regional aviation system plans to be undertaken by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The Downstate Region of New York is one of the most populous in the nation encompassing the New York City metropolitan area and a total of 14 counties. General aviation plays a vital role in linking this area to the national air transportation system.
Of particular concern to the NYSDOT is the validity of forecasts from previous studies and applicable master plans. In addition to concerns over forecast validity, other issues that were examined in the study included: ground access, public versus private ownership of airports, land use compatibility, reliever airport designation, adequacy of commuter air service to area airports, environmental concerns and financial feasibility. An overriding concern of Mr. Wiedemann's was that the study be meaningful in addressing the real concerns of the aviation community and interested general public. Unfortunately, the options available to aviation interests in the region are sharply limited due to the well organized anti-growth factions. These groups limited the recommended plan to essentially an existing system or status quo future.
This study provided a forum where both public and private aviation interests could discuss individual airport needs and aviation-related problems and challenges. Functioning in this manner, the study served to create a general awareness of the need for a systematic approach to air transportation planning. Further, the planning process served to coordinate the efforts of various state agencies, local governments, airport sponsors, and interested aviation groups.