Airports:USA is the only independent source of airport traffic trends affecting America's airports, free of both political intervention and outdated forecast methodologies.

Established in 1992 by Boyd Group International, the program has been updated and expanded to 169 airports, covering almost all air traffic at USA airports. Our objective is to bring to bear the true dynamics that will shape enplanement demand at airports across the nation, based on known and researched trends.

Today, air passenger traffic levels are driven by a range of factors, many of which are the result of corporate and airline business factors. The traditional methodology that assumes air traffic demand stems from economic and demographic factors to which airlines merely respond, is completely out of date. This obsolete thinking results in FAA forecasts that completely miss episodic events in the airline industry. For example, the opening and closing of airline hubs, or the decision by an airline to focus capacity on a given airport, or a carrier's shift in fleet mix - these are routine and fundamental parts of the airline business. Yet the assumptions that they can be "forecasted" by economic and demographic data are completely false, as has been proven time and again over the past three decades.

Our methodology of course focuses on some of these "natural" market dynamics, but it also recognizes that corporate imperatives and evolving economic imperatives will affect how and where air passenger traffic develops or atrophies.

Our Background

Founded in 1984, what is today Boyd Group International has become the leader in the forum of aviation research and forecasting. We do not accept "consensus" assumptions. We do not rely on data or perspectives unless it fits with the facts as we see them. Our track record is one that no other consultant can match - or even get close to...

First study - in 1986 - of the effects of "code sharing" between then independent regional airlines and major carriers. The Department of Transportation issued a doctored study, claiming no downside to competition as a result of code-sharing. BGI saw it differently, projecting that once a code-share agreement was signed, the regional carrier ceded all control over its route system and its future. Today, that entire independent air transportation system - and most of its players - have been subsumed into major carrier systems, instead of the future possibility of growing and expanding.

First analyses of the concept of the "regional jet." BGI was virtually alone in 1989 in illuminating the potential of a fast 50-seat turbojet airliner platform, as proposed by Canadair and Embraer. At the time, the "consensus" was that due to higher fuel burn, such aircraft would not be competitive with existing turboprops. They ignored the revenue productivity of the new concept.

First to project the end of "regional jet" demand. By 2003, now that it was obvious, the general consensus was that 50-seat jets were a permanent factor in the airline industry. But our forecasts indicated that the global need for 50-seat jets - and the larger variants of the platform - was mostly satisfied, and demand would tail of materially. That is precisely what happened. By 2005, 50-seat jets were essentially out of production. Larger variants of the Bombardier CRJ series also saw declines in demand. The last of these were delivered to SkyWest Airlines on March 5, 2021.

First in the forum of international issues. In 2009, BGI was the first to independently analyze the potential for air traffic between the U.S. and Cuba. The conclusion was that unless there was a complete change of government, there was no substantial demand - because there was no Cuban economy, per se. In 2014, after the Obama Administration renewed ties with the Castro regime, our study was updated and concluded that the rosy expectations of thousands of new tourists and hundreds of millions in business opportunity were based on completely non-factual data. There still was - and continues to be - no economic business base in Cuba. This was a surprise to the airlines that rushed in, paid substantial sums in "fees" and found it to be a lake of red ink.

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