Human mobility in the airport transportation network of the United States

Abstract

In this research, we analyze the air transportation network of the United States of America using databases with passenger activity containing detailed records of domestic flights between airports. Different properties obtained from the origin-destination matrix in the air transport network are studied from 2011 to 2020. The results are compared with a model based on the gravity law for human mobility defined in terms of transition probabilities and travel distances. The predictions of this model are confirmed through Monte Carlo simulations. Our findings reproduce the dynamics of passengers in the airport transportation network.