Cover Story: Where does RDU rank among nation’s airports? And why?
(Triangle Business Journal, Friday, June 9, 2017)
By many accounts, Raleigh-Durham International Airport is booming.
In 2017 alone, its runways have hosted a slew of flights bound for new destinations – from Austin, Texas, to New Orleans.
A year ago, the airport’s second transAtlantic flight – this time to Paris – took off from the 10,000-foot runway. As a result, the airport recently topped a national list of mid-sized airports when it comes to connectivity.
But when it comes to operational efficiency, RDU trails both Piedmont Triad International in Greensboro and Charlotte Douglas International.
In American City Business Journal’s first airport Power Rankings, which draw from statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation and analysis provided by faculty at Wake Forest University’s School of Business, RDU operated at a 91 percent efficiency rate in 2015. Both GSO and CLT operated at a 100 percent efficiency rate, according to the report.
The findings are quantitative and subjective, spotlighting both where the industry is headed and which airports are leading the charge. While RDU consistently ranks highly in national reports about connectivity, the Power Rankings report card gives the airport a “C.”
In a statement, RDU spokeswoman Kristie VanAuken said it was “experiencing unprecedented growth in passenger demand and new flight options.” She noted RDU offers the lowest average fare in North Carolina and is home to 10 commercial air carriers offering 47 nonstop destinations.
“RDU is making critical investments in people and facilities,” she said. “Every airport is unique. Each community has its own unique imprint and capital investment horizon. RDU is embarking on our Vision 2040 master plan, investing more than $2 billion in infrastructure to serve our growing region. After decades of extremely low operating costs compared to other medium-hub airports, RDU is ramping up our human resources to prepare for upcoming projects.”
As for the best-run airport in the country, ACBJ’s research points to Norman Y. Mineta International Airport in San Jose.
The city-owned airport ranks among the best of its peers in virtually every financial and operating category measured by ACBJ, particularly when it came to productivity among its relatively lean workforce. And it doesn’t hurt that the San Jose airport has convenience to the city’s downtown area and a multitude of transportation options to and from the airport.
Transportation in particular is where the report finds RDU lacking. It notes that RDU, unlike airports in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., has limited transit options. In Atlanta, a train can take you where you want to go, while RDU just offers rideshare, taxi and bus service. The new Wake County transit plan will ramp up bus service to RDU but will not include rail service.
Even so, Joe Milazzo, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance business coalition, says leaders he talks to all have “positive things” to say about the airport’s accessibility. He points out that three major highways access its campus; national rankings sometimes don’t take into account airports serving dispersed populations, as RDU sits in the middle of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The distance to the major convention center included in the data, for example, doesn’t take into account the multiple expo sites across the Triangle, including the nearby Durham Convention Center.
And while urban travelers might not find the transit connectivity they’re used to seeing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, RDU’s job isn’t first to serve them, Milazzo says.
“RDU’s job is to service this growing metro area, so its location is perfectly situated,” he says. “It’s not the Raleigh International Airport.”