Overseas air cargo service, airborne export-producing industries, and United States cities, 1980--1995

Service capacity and freight value on international air cargo routes to and from U.S. cities have increased dramatically since domestic airline industry deregulation in 1978. However, not all cities have participated equally in this expansion. My research analyzes previously undocumented changes in the geographic pattern of overseas cargo service markets at U.S. cities between 1980 and the mid-1990s. The study identifies industry groups that rely heavily on air cargo service to facilitate their export activities and examines their employment distributions among U.S. metropolitan regions as an indicator of demand for overseas air cargo service. Further, it classifies U.S. metropolitan regions based on the mismatches revealed between improvement or decline in overseas air cargo service supply and demand. Finally, brief case studies of the political, economic, and industry issues that influence service and employment at Portland, Oregon; St. Louis; Washington-Baltimore; and Minneapolis-St. Paul demonstrate how local factors may affect the position of each U.S. city within the urban hierarchy defined by overseas air cargo service market characteristics.;As our economy has become broader and more geographically flexible, so also have the supply and demand forces shaping local international air cargo service markets. During the study period, more U.S. cities gained direct links to the overseas air cargo service network. Concurrently, employment in industries that produce air-eligible exports became more widely dispersed among a greater number of places. My study reveals that the hierarchy of U.S. metropolitan regions competing for service and employers shifted away from traditionally dominant cities over this period. It demonstrates where actual service and employment have grown or declined, but more importantly identifies cities whose competitive position relative to other metropolitan regions has fallen or risen. Employment rank gain without commensurate improvement in service position reveals potential markets for new overseas air cargo service. Conversely, service position improvement without similar employment rank gain indicates potential opportunity for increased local airborne export production. The competition among U.S. cities for such service, and the export-industry jobs linked to it, is the underlying theme for the study.