Opportunities for Research in Air Transportation

This article is concerned with the likely future direction of social science, and especially economic, research in air transportation. To avoid excessive speculation, the assessment is based on as much factual information as possible. It assumes, for example, that much of the technology likely to be used in the near future is known today, although it may not yet be fully developed. To provide a structure, other than just a long list of research possibilities, the study considers three basic trends—continuing trends, trend breaks, and new trends—in air transportation. The approach adopted is also mainly demand driven in that it looks at the probable research needed to explore these various trends, and it says little about how this research may be resourced, or how research priorities are likely to be determined. It is positive in its approach, trying to be as objective as possible, and focusing more on the use of developments in economic and related analysis than on normative debates about what policies should be pursued.