This is a highly structured brainstorming case focused on market sizing at an airport. Rather than using a traditional business framework, candidates are expected to think about airport stakeholder dynamics (passengers, airlines, vendors) and quantitatively estimate passenger volumes using multiple approaches (flight-based or population-based). The case rewards structured thinking and the ability to apply real-world context without explicit frameworks.
The case provides multiple clarifying questions and answers throughout:
What is a passenger? A passenger is measured by a person who passes through the airport, either to board or deplane an aircraft. People who are passing through the airport on a layover switching planes are considered one passenger.
What about people dropping off friends at the airport? Taxi drivers, Uber drivers, and people picking up their friends are not passengers.
How about Pilots, Flight Attendants, and TSA Workers? We are only counting people who have a paid ticket to fly, not people at the airport for their job.
Are we counting only one-ways or roundtrips? We are considering each visit to the airport. For example, a family of four traveling roundtrip from SLC to Los Angeles for vacation would count as 8 passengers (4 when they leave and 4 when they return).