Passenger-Centric Ground Holding : including connections in ground delay program decisions

Abstract

This research seeks to address potential "passenger-centric" modifications to the way that ground holding delays are allocated in Ground Delay Programs. The allocation of landing slots to arriving flights during time periods when the overall capacity at an airport is reduced due to adverse weather conditions or other circumstances is a well-studied problem in Air Traffic Flow Management, but not from the passenger's perspective. We propose a Passenger-Centric Ground Holding (PCGH) model, which considers both the number of passengers on flights and, notably, when/if they are making connections. In experimental results, PCGH is shown to lead to slot allocations which are significantly different from those in the currently-used first scheduled, first served (FSFS) approach. A systematic analysis is conducted to determine the impact of PCGH on a variety of airport and airline types. Finally, the effects of a maximum-delay-limiting constraint and the convexity of the cost function are investigated.