William Rankin, Ph.D.

Adjunct Faculty | College of Aeronautics Florida Tech

  • Melbourne FL

Dr. Rankin's research focuses on airport management and security and runway safety.

Contact

Florida Tech

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Areas of Expertise

Airport Planning and Development
Snow Removal Operations
Airport Logistics
Airport Security
Airport Management
Airport and Airline Operations at Airports
Airport Leasing and Administration
Airport Certification

About

Dr. William Rankin teaches courses directly related to his professional background and education, including upper division courses in airport operations, aviation security, advanced aviation research and advanced aviation management.

He also teaches airport management and transportation logistics at the University of Technology Panama's College of Aeronautics, and teaches at the University of Phoenix College of Business.

Dr. Rankin’s scholarly activity includes over 20 refereed journal publications, one book, two chapters in a book, and numerous refereed and non-refereed presentations. His scholarly works have been cited in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and North America.

Dr. Rankin has also served as an airport management expert witness for several law firms and has testified in numerous airport litigation actions.

Research Focus

Dr. Rankin's primary research focus is on Multi-Airport Logistics Systems (MLS). This research compares the performance of cargo and passenger transport modes in U.S. MLSs. Other research explores terrorist attacks affecting airports and airlines, and runway incursions in the U.S. airports system.

Media Assets

Media Appearances

Holiday air travel: Experts say come prepared and early for flights in the coming week

FOX 35 Orlando  

2022-06-28

"We’re trying to get back into a situation where we have enough pilots to meet the current demand," said Dr. William Rankin, a Florida Institute of Technology Professor in Airport Management.

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Think Airport Crowds Are Bad Now? Wait ’Til Summer

Wired  

2022-05-24

Staffing cuts at airlines and airports, and among government security agents for air travel, have been unprecedented, largely due to the steep drop in demand for flights in 2020 and 2021 as Americans stayed home. There’s no telling how long it will take to staff back up, says William Rankin, a professor of airport management at the Florida Institute of Technology. The closest we’ve seen to this situation was after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

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Airlines suspend numerous flights from CVG, with several returning in June

Cincinnati Enquirer  

2020-05-20

William Rankin, an associate professor of Aviation Management at the Florida Institute of Technology and former airport manager of 29 years, said the formula airports use to calculate how they use their planes and where they plan routes is complex, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created unforeseen complications with their calculations.

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Education

Northcentral University

Ph.D.

Business Administration

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

M.A.S.

Aeronautical Sciences

Middle Tennessee State University

B.S.

Aviation Management

Selected Articles

Increasing Airports' On-Time Arrival Performance Through Airport Capacity and Efficiency Indicators

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

2020

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Tiny houses and their usefulness in addressing logistical challenges associated with operating a permanent 50-person Martian colony

Inaugural Two-day Workshop at the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute (BASI)

2016

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Self-education of agents in the Multi-Airport Logistics System: A multiple cases study

Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems

2016

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Affiliations

  • American Association of Airport Executives : Executive Emeritus