ABSTRACT
At more than $425 billion in direct economic impacts and employing more than 5.6 million people, the value of the global airline industry is larger than some countries in the G20. In many respects, aviation is a tangible World Wide Web. Whether it is for business expansion, tourism, or cargo movements, the air transport system lubricates our physical connections in much the same way our information neurons are fused by the Internet. Small cities and remote locations can thrive if they are connected to the aviation system, just as diminished air service can result in economic decline (Nolan et al. 2005). But the air transport system is geographically uneven. In terms of the global employment and GDP contributions, nearly half of the system benefits are found in North America (Oxford Economics 2011). Some of the spoils have been enjoyed in Canada, which will be examined briefly toward the end of the chapter, but the focus will be on the US aviation market, where dynamic market forces continue to rearrange the landscape.
