Structural Efficiency and Robustness Evolution of the US Air Cargo Network from 1990 to 2019

Abstract

As the US air cargo network (USACN) becomes a crucial part of the economy, it is pivotal to understand the structural evolution of the network and how it would be affected by unexpected events. We investigated the network structure, efficiency, and robustness of the USACN from 1990 to 2019 due to targeted attacks based on complex network theory from a dynamic and spatiotemporal perspective. Our results suggest that the USACN has enhanced robustness. Moreover, we find that attacks based on betweenness centrality are the most effective way to cause a collapse compared with attacks based on degree and closeness centrality. In addition, airports of the USACN have formed an increasing number of communities with geographical ties, and airports in the noncontiguous regions are more vulnerable than other communities in the lower 48 states. Further, we discover that the average path lengths have increased, and the overall efficiency has decreased from 0.7 to 0.4 due to the dependency of the hub-and-spoke structure. This paper complements previous studies on the dynamic structure evolution of air cargo networks through the lens of complex network theory with spatial-temporal data.