Generation and recovery of airborne delays in air transport

The analysis of the causes behind the appearance and propagation of delays is one of the major topics inside Air Transport Management research. Existing research focuses by and large on Air Traffic Flow Management regulations and reactionary delays; less attention has been devoted to the study of the mechanisms governing the generation and absorption of delays while airborne, in spite of their important economical and environmental consequences. Here the authors present a methodology to detect delay-generating events, based on the comparison of planned and real trajectories; these events are then used to characterise several aspects of the dynamics of the system, e.g. its resilience. The authors apply this methodology to a historical data set of flights crossing the European airspace during 2011, and observe an overall resilient system, able to absorb as much delays as it generates; yet resilience is not constant, but strongly depends on the phase of the flight, and shows high spatial and temporal heterogeneities. The authors anticipate the proposed methodology to open new doors for the development of a better systemic performance, by enabling the characterisation and understanding of this fundamental type of delay.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2016.06.018
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X16300912
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0968090X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Belkoura, Seddik
  • Peña, José Maria
  • Zanin, Massimiliano
• Publication Date: 2016-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 436-450
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies
  • Volume: 69
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0968-090X
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0968090X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation; Flight delays; Flow control (Air traffic control); Methodology
• Uncontrolled Terms: Recovery from delays; Resilience (Adaptability)
• Geographic Terms: Europe
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01608883
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 22 2016 4:25PM