Critical Airport Infrastructure Disaster Resilience: A Framework and Simulation Model for Rapid Adaptation

Abstract

Resilient critical airport infrastructures affected by a disaster need to sustain minimal functionality and quickly resume full operation, while at the same time coping with the increased operational demands imposed by the unfolding disaster response. In this paper, we develop a resilience framework and model-driven approach that focuses on the ability of the infrastructure to rapidly adapt to a new steady state under these conditions. This requires both the extension of capacity as well as the adaptation of key processes. Through discrete event simulations, we study the implications of different policies to improve airport resilience under different disaster impact scenarios for a stylized case. Our results show that although decision-makers may be tempted to focus on short-term measures that can be implemented immediately, resilience is improved most by a combination of rapid process changes and longer-term measures that structurally increase airport capacity.