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Many cities around the nation have international airports for each part of their region with air traffic being mostly those in the region closest to that airport. Other regions have one airport for the whole region as the only option.
Which model is best for a region as a whole? Is one better than the other? Which is more convient for the entire region? Does one have an advantage over the other? Some regions get along great with one major airport like Denver, Philly, and Atlanta. Other regions get alone great with three airports like NYC and DC. Still other regions have one major international airport and maybe a smaller airport also. Does one format have an advantage over the other? Thoughts?
Speaking for myself I like multiple airports more than one but it depends on the metro. An example I don't think Atlanta people should feel sorry for not having more than one, they have only one but its one of the best in the world from every possible way. A metro like the bay has 3 international airports even though SFO is the international heavyweight champion, for domestic I would rather fly out of Oakland International over SFO and Mineta San Jose. Oakland is easier on a domestic traveler.
I like in Chicago having two. O'Hare is HUGE and sprawling mess. Midway is Medium-Small and easy to get around. I like Midway for domestic travel (which is primarily it's purpose). It less of hassle to get through stuff and not as crazy as O'Hare can get. Midway is actually a pleasant experience where O'Hare can get stressful.
My only problem is that I am much closer to O'Hare so that is where I always fly out of regardless if it's domestic or international.
I like having easy access regardless of how many there are. Both airports here are easily accessible by trains to and from downtown.
O'hare to me is the big crazy international airport that's always packed and full of business people and tourists. Most locals gravitate towards Midway if they live in the city because it's so much smaller and easy to manage. It's like "our" airport. I just looked it up and I'm a bit surprised it's up to 18,000,000 people coming and going each year. Doesn't feel that busy.
Which seemed not to make United too happy... Thoughts on the actual OP though???
As for my thoughts, I usually fly from the main airport here as I'm usually going back to the US, but the other airports are really nice to have as well for random European trips as they tend to be less hectic and crowded. They tend to have less options as well though...
That being said, multiple airports, besides just the traffic and population to support them, also need to be set up in a way that airlines that codeshare are together. The smaller airport(s) being dominated by a carrier such as Southwest for example (such is the case with Midway or Houston's second airport I believe) that doesn't play well with the normal big carriers is good. An airline company saying they want me to change airports in NY for one of their connecting flights is bad...
I've noticed smaller airports near larger cities are trying to piggyback their airports off the large nearby populations.
As Chicago's burbs have marched closer to Rockford, the city (metro around 450,000) has renamed their airport the Chicago Rockford International Airport. They only go to around 7 places and have a few hundred thousand passengers, but with the suburbs of Chicago only 20 miles and closing from the eastern areas of Rockford, they're obviously trying to cash in.
Same with Milwaukee's airport with around 10 million passengers trying to bill itself as Chicago's 3rd area airport. In 2005 they started running 7 daily trains from the Chicago area to the airport and then on to Milwaukee to the north.
The rebranded Gary Chicago Airport is only about 5 miles from the city of Chicago, and is very aggresively trying to prop itself up as a regional player. They have around $50 million in funding to add jetways, expand the terminal, bury high-tension electrical lines, relocate railroad tracks, expand runways and add passenger rail options to Chicago as well as expanded interstate access. Curious to see how it plays out.
Ok let's just be real Baltimore has 1 airport and DC has 2. This is in fact another reason why I dislike the CSA.
They'll get over it. Houston is in a perfect location for one of their hubs and Southwest won't hurt them as much as they think it will.
Most of Montgomery, Prince George's, and Frederick County use Baltimore Washington Airport. That's over 2 million people out of the DC MSA. Have you ever been to DC before?
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