Air time : another measure of the quality of passenger service

• Main Author: Blake Betancourt, Juan Jamie
• Other Authors: Arnold I. Barnett.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2007
• Subjects: Technology and Policy Program.; Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38331

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, June 2006. === Page 83 blank. === Includes bibliographical references. === The proposal of a new metric called "Air Time" and its various components, show the advantage of having a broader perspective of the travel process of airline passengers. Travel time is basically affected by three different factors. These factors are the length of the flight, the frequency of the flight and the day on which this flight is operated. Particular attention is paid to the ground side component of the Air Time and on how this component is affected by the three variables mentioned above. The Air Time offers the possibility of making comparisons of the different parts of the travel process while looking at the whole picture of it. These comparisons range from comparing two airlines operating on the same route to compare the performance of the different stages of the travel process in different times. The relation of these three variables to the Air Time is well determined and statistical analysis is done in order to show how each of these variables affects the Air Time and its various components. As a result of the statistical analysis, at the end is possible to estimate the ground side component of the Air Time for a given flight based on its haul, frequency and day of operation. among airlines. === (cont.) The information provided by the Air Time and its different components, can assist airlines and airport as an additional tool in operations planning. Also, the information provided by this new metric can benefit the public by allowing people to better understand what it really means, in terms of time, to engage in a flight with a particular airline and thus improving the competition === by Juan Jamie Blake Betancourt. === S.M.