The Evolving Role and Scale of Cargo-Focused Hub Airports in the United States, 2003–2020

This study develops a method for categorizing airports based on the amount of cargo each airport handles in relation to its passenger traffic. Such a categorization allows for systematic comparisons of airports largely specializing in cargo with those that have more balanced freight/passenger roles. The results show that cargo-focused hub airports (i.e., major cargo-handling airports that handle little or no passenger traffic) in the continental United States shoulder a growing burden in freight movement. One of the most successful of these, Chicago Rockford International Airport, has risen to become the 15th largest airport with respect to domestic cargo shipments on the US mainland, while Texas's Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Seattle's Boeing Field also rank among the top 50. A considerable amount of volatility, however, has accompanied the evolution of this specialized grouping of airports over the past 20 years. Presently, among the 100 airports on the U.S. mainland handling the most domestic freight, cargo-focused hub airports serve only a secondary role, handling less than 5% of domestic air freight shipments as measured by weight. Most major hubs operated by air-freight integrators, such as those developed by FedEx and UPS at Memphis, TN, and Louisville, KY, respectively, are at mixed-purpose airports that have a greater balance of passenger and freight activity. The findings point to some of the unique challenges facing airports that specialize in the movement of freight.