College of Business and Economics Poster Presentations
Title
Is an International Airline Hub Possible in the Boise Metropolitan Area?
Document Type
Student Presentation
Presentation Date
4-16-2012
Faculty Sponsor
Samia Islam
Abstract
The last few decades have seen Boise transform from a relatively small town into a more urbanized and connected city. According to U.S. Census statistics, Boise was the seventh-fastest growing metropolitan area in the country from 1990 to 2000 (+46.1%). Today the population of the Boise-Nampa MSA is approximately 620,000. As Boise grows so do the potential benefits of having an airline hub located here. Hubs attract businesses and people to an area. New jobs and increased investment in an area increase productivity and boost the area’s economy. Our research will focus on the following questions: Why doesn’t Boise have an airline hub and what can it do to make one possible? We will compare Boise to Billings, MT and Oakland, CA, two MSAs that have airline hubs and have similar populations to Boise. Our research will also examine how airlines choose a location as a hub and what incentives those airlines have for locating in that particular city. Our research should provide insights into the similarities and differences between Boise and cities with hubs. We expect to find that the Boise-Nampa MSA may in fact be able to support an airline hub in the future as the area continues to grow and develop.