The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) is an improved mode of air travel for personal transportation that makes use of the network of commercial and general aviation airports. It is a system of highly developed aircraft and ground facilities that can safely and affordably move people among several thousand of currently underused airports throughout urban, suburban, and rural America. The SATS is a combined program that consists of three main components: new vehicle technology, airspace infrastructure, and SATS service provider. The objective of this research was to study the SATS service provider component. It consisted of the definition and analysis of the demand forecast, airfield design, terminal area, and ground transportation access metrics and their interrelationships. A computer model that allowed the evaluation of different scenarios of planning and design of airfields for the SATS in Nebraska was also developed. The results of a base simulation for 2001 showed that 88 out of 91 Nebraska airports require some changes to be SATS compatible. The air traffic control and the terminal area components require the most changes. The runway length, runway surface, lighting, marking, aircraft parking, and fuel accessibility also require some minor changes and upgrades. The capacity and ground transportation access of all airports meet SATS requirements. An ongoing research effort continues to develop and calibrate the SATS metrics at regional and national levels. The results were merely preliminary work for SATS implementation in the state of Nebraska.
