Avgeek,
I can understand your predicament, I had similar when I was don't my MSc.
I think an excellent topic or question to pose is ; what value do airports actuallt bring to the local economies??
We'd all age that airports are a driving force in ecomonic terms, figures are bandied about but particularly in the case regional airports, particular small or marginal ones how do we ascertain what they deliver to the regions that they serve. You could look at a range of tourism data on tourism spend, collect data on direct and indirect employment for the chosen airports, and I think that the airport management people are quite accessible. If you need help in same, give me a pm.
EI-BUD