The FedEx Problem
Yes, at FedEx, we considered that
<i>problem</i> for about
three seconds before we noticed
that we also needed:<p>(1) A suitable, existing airport at 
the hub location.<p>(2) Good weather at the hub location,
e.g., relatively little snow, fog,
or rain.<p>(3) Access to good <i>ramp</i> space, that
is, where to park and service the
airplanes and sort the packages.<p>(4) Good labor supply, e.g., for
the sort center.<p>(5) Relatively low cost of living
to keep down prices.<p>(6) Friendly regulatory environment.<p>(7) Candidate airport not too busy,
e.g., don't want arriving planes
to have to circle a long time
before being able to land.<p>(8) Airport with relatively little
in cross winds and with more than
one runway to pick from in case
of winds.<p>(9) Runway altitude not too high,
e.g., not high enough to restrict
maximum total gross take off weight,
e.g., rule out Denver.<p>(10) No tall obstacles, e.g., 
mountains, near the ends of the
runways.<p>(11) Good supplies of jet fuel.<p>(12) Good access to roads for
18 wheel trucks for exchange
of packages between trucks
and planes, e.g., so that some
parts could be trucked to the
hub and stored there and
shipped directly via the planes
to customers that place
orders, say, as late as 11 PM
for delivery before 10 AM.<p>So, there were about three candidate
locations, Memphis and, as I recall, Cincinnati
and Kansas City.<p>The Memphis airport had some old
WWII hangers next to the
runway that FedEx could use
for the sort center, aircraft
maintenance, and HQ
office space.  Deal done --
it was Memphis.<p>That's how the decision
was <i>really</i> made.<p>Uh, I was there at the time,
wrote the first software
for scheduling the fleet,
had my office next to that
of founder, COB, CEO F. Smith.