Advancing Sustainability and Pandemic Resilience at Airports: A Framework for Technology Adoption in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Date of Award

5-11-2025

Date Published

June 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Advisor(s)

Donald Harter

Keywords

Airport Technology Management;Infrastructure Resilience;Pandemic Resilience in Aviation;Smart Airport Technologies;Sustainable Airport Operations;Technology Adoption Framework

Subject Categories

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Civil Engineering | Engineering

Abstract

Airports Council International and the global air transport industry have set a net-zero carbon goal for airports by 2050, emphasizing the need for innovation and a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving this goal requires a deeper understanding of how U.S. airports perceive and implement sustainability and resilience initiatives in the post-pandemic landscape; an area that remains underexplored. This dissertation addresses this gap by investigating airport sustainability and resilience management practices and examining the role of emerging technologies in advancing these objectives. To support this research, interviews with consultants and solution providers were conducted alongside a nationwide survey of 74 geographically diverse airports, with responses categorized by airport size. Statistical analyses, including the Fisher’s exact test and Chi-squared test were employed to examine the relationship between airport size and technology adoption patterns. Findings indicate that while some airports have made progress, most lack a structured strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although many airports implemented COVID-19 mitigation measures, a significant number do not have long-term resilience plans, and the majority face challenges in technological readiness for future disruptions. To bridge this gap, this study proposes a 5-component framework to guide sustainable and resilient technology adoption in airports. The first component, Benchmarking, establishes a foundation for assessing an airport’s current sustainability and resilience maturity. By evaluating existing practices and comparing them with industry best practices, airports can identify gaps and prioritize areas for improvement. The second component, Key Objectives for Technology Integration, defines ten critical objectives that drive technology adoption, including operational efficiency, cost efficiency, resilience to disruptions, and sustainability. This component also incorporates cross-matching with the Envision Framework established by the Institute of Sustainable Infrastructure (2024), ensuring that technology adoption aligns with recognized sustainability and resilience credit categories. The third component, A Structured Process for Technology Adoption, outlines a systematic approach that begins with gap identification, followed by an assessment of existing solutions, feasibility analysis, pilot trials, and ultimately full implementation. The fourth component, Strategies to Accelerate Adoption, details ten internal and external strategies to facilitate technology implementation. Internal strategies focus on organizational initiatives such as cross-functional teams and workforce development, while external strategies emphasize collaborations with industry stakeholders, academic institutions, and cross-industry partnerships. Finally, the fifth component, Leveraging the Envision Framework, realigns the selected technology with the Envision credit categories, ensuring that sustainability and resilience principles are fully integrated into the adoption process. This step involves reassessing the technology to identify additional synergies and Envision credits that may have been overlooked in the initial phases to maximize the sustainability and resilience benefits of their chosen solutions. Collectively, these components provide a structured and actionable approach for airports to adopt innovative solutions that enhance sustainability, resilience, and overall operational performance. To refine and validate the framework, a series of interviews with airport sustainability managers and directors was conducted, incorporating expert insights to enhance its utility and practical applicability. Additionally, a nationwide survey of airport sustainability and resilience managers confirmed its relevance and usability in real-world decision-making. To assess the reliability and consistency of the validation responses, Cronbach’s Alpha, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and Kendall’s’ Tau-b coefficient were calculated, all of which demonstrated high internal consistency and strong inter-item relationships across key dimensions of the framework. This study provides actionable insights for airport decision-makers, enabling the adoption of technologies that enhance sustainability and pandemic resilience. It also equips middle management with a structured approach to vet emerging technologies, strengthening their ability to present well-evaluated solutions to upper management. More broadly, this research contributes to the field by improving the understanding of sustainability and pandemic resilience challenges in airports, identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for monitoring progress, outlining airport recommendations, and addressing drivers and barriers to technology adoption. Most notably, it introduces a validated framework that supports sustainable and resilient technology adoption, offering a structured pathway for airports to enhance operational efficiency, future preparedness, and environmental performance.

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