This chapter applies decision analysis to a large-scale public decision problem: selection of a strategy for developing the major airport facilities of the Mexico City metropolitan area. There are two purposes in discussing this study here. First, many of the techniques and procedures developed in earlier chapters of this book are utilized on a very important “typical” problem. Of course, it's typical of those one-of-a-kind Strategic decisions that always concern many atypical aspects. Second, although the analysis Stresses the value side of the multiattribute problem, it also deals with structuring the problem, aspects of modeling the possible impacts of various alternatives, and the larger framework within which the analysis occurred.

Many people contributed significantly to the study. It was done in the summer of 1971 for the Government of Mexico under the auspices of the Secretaria de Obras Publicas (Ministry of Public Works, SOP) and directed by F. J. Jauffred, Director of the Center for Computation and Statistics, and F. Dovali, Head of the Department of Airports. Richard de Newville of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and we authors were consultants assisting SOP on the project. The total time spent by the consultants on the project was 50 man-days.