Economic Impact of Airports & Update Economic Impact Calculator

Project summary:

Airport managers and commissioner have historically confronted a dilemma when trying to make a case or present arguments regarding the economic value of their airport. In order to ease this dilemma, William Gartner and Daniel Erkkila of the University of Minnesota developed an Airport Economic Impact Calculator in 2004. This calculator has proven very useful to airport managers and commissioners. The calculator, however, is now in need of an update, as the base data have become outdated. Further, the current calculator has certain limitations that can now be resolved. In addition, while having a tool to calculate the economic impact of small- and medium-sized airports has filled a need in Minnesota, there is still a need for a comprehensive study looking at the economic impact of the statewide system of airports. This project will accomplish two goals. One, it will provide an update to both the underlying data and the style of the calculator. Two, it will provide a measure of the total economic impact of public commercial and general aviation airports in Minnesota.