Envisioning the Future of U.S. Airports

If U.S. airports were to rally around a realistic but aspirational vision for their future, what would it include? In the present day, airports face funding and capacity constraints, potential new entrants into aviation (uncrewed aircraft and advanced air mobility), workforce challenges, and operational pressures from climate change. Over the next several decades, airports will need to navigate these issues, as well as others that may arise. While a shared vision for the future will not allow airports to automatically achieve a more desirable future, it can provide a sense of direction and common aspiration for what could be achieved. For this project, experts across the industry worked to develop such a vision for U.S. airports in 2050.