Journal of Air Transport Management最新文献

A factor that impacts airlines' resources is the verification of luggage’s dimensions during the boarding process. Companies often rely on a human operator to perform this check using a manual template, which can cause delays. As an alternative, companies are investing in self bag drop systems. This process introduces new technological challenges since, in this scenario, checking the conformity of luggage dimensions is delegated to the passenger, which can lead to errors. In addition, current solutions use specific computational devices, such as laser scanners, that are expressive in size and cost, which may require interventions in the airport infrastructure. To overcome this, isolated initiatives are observed with alternative technologies, such as low-cost depth sensors, but they usually come without a scientific investigation. In this sense, this work investigates the technical viability of using such low-cost devices to obtain the dimensions of airport baggage. To do so, we developed a model that obtains a 3D point cloud of the luggage surface through a Microsoft Kinect V2 sensor. This cloud is treated and processed to extract the dimensions of the luggage. In order to validate this approach, a full-scale physical prototype was built and tested. The results indicate that the mean absolute error of the obtained dimension by the proposed model is 2.86 cm. Such data suggest that this technology has the potential to become an alternative to detect the dimensions of airport luggage.

This study examines the influence of bad working states on the control effect of air traffic controllers by establishing a scoring standard for control performance assessment with eight assessment items, such as the standard radiotelephony communications, and 25 specific assessment contents, such as the completeness of control instructions. Combined with equipment for tower control simulations, this standard assesses and counts the scores of controllers in different states, namely, sober, fatigue, stress, and fatigue & stress. We tested the control effect distributions of four states through the Kruskal-Wallis test and analyzed whether the bad working states were statistically significant for each control effect item. The study found that the bad working states are statistically significant for standard radiotelephony communications, flight progress strips, safety separation, instruction timing, situational awareness, and total control effect score in the control effects. Moreover, the research revealed that bad working states are not statistically significant for equipment inspection, external environment scan, and safety awareness in the control effect. Further, forced pair comparisons of the substantial control effect items showed that controllers have adverse statistically significant effects on the use of flight progress strips, situational awareness, and the total score of control effects when controllers are in a stress state. Meanwhile, they have an adverse statistically significant effect on the standard radiotelephony communications, safety separation and instruction timing, flight progress strips, situational awareness, and the total score of control effects when controllers are under a fatigue & stress state.

To determine the evolutionary trajectory of airline network selection under different airport-provided subsidy regimes in the context of multiple airport systems (MAS), we construct an evolutionary game model consisting of airports and airlines as the two involved parties and explore the evolutionary stable strategies (ESS) of both players under different scenarios, the factors influencing the evolutionary path of the stability strategies are also analyzed. The results show that: (1) ESS of airports is the low subsidy strategy, and airlines may evolve into the hub-spoke network or the point-to-point network. (2) From the perspective of total social welfare, it is preferable for airlines to choose the hub-spoke network. (3) Lower expected subsidies from non-hub airports and higher route fixed costs strongly encourage airlines to converge towards the hub-spoke network strategy as their stable equilibrium. (4) The increase in passenger demand in the MAS can encourage airports to choose the low subsidy strategy, and the increase of passenger demand served by non-hub airports has a dampening effect on the evolution equilibrium toward the hub-spoke network strategy. This study provides valuable insights for improving the airport-provided subsidy regimes of the aviation market and optimizing the development of the airline network.

Runways are a crucial element of the aircraft operations system at an airport. The concept of practical capacity, which relates the number of takeoff and landing operations to the average delay per operation, is used to evaluate the effectiveness of their use. The study aims to identify factors influencing runway performance and then quantify the scale of this impact. An original simulation model in a colored Petri net was developed to achieve this goal. It enables studying the influence of various disturbances in the takeoff and landing process on the average delay per operation. As a result of the simulation experiments, it was found that the most significant impact on runway performance has (i) the delay between the issue of the takeoff clearance and the beginning of the takeoff run, (ii) air traffic congestion, and (iii) adverse weather conditions. These factors often overlap, which significantly increases the average delay per operation. We can only affect the take-off clearance response time of these three factors. Adequate procedures and training programs should be implemented to make aircrews and air traffic controllers aware of the importance of this issue.

With the rapid expansion of the global aviation industry, especially in the Eurasian continent, understanding the factors driving interregional air passenger flow is of increasing importance. While most existing studies emphasize node-level and edge-level influencing factors such as economic scale, population size, and geographic distance, they often neglect the pivotal variable of network autocorrelation. This research is the first to introduce network autocorrelation within the Eurasian context and systematically analyze it using the Eigenvector Spatial Filtering Negative Binomial Gravity Model. Our findings highlight: (1) A significant network autocorrelation in the Eurasian continental aviation network. The eigenvector spatial filtering negative binomial regression model effectively captures this autocorrelation, considerably reducing model estimation bias. Specifically, the leading 3.28% of eigenvectors capture a high degree of this network autocorrelation. (2) The presence of network autocorrelation introduces estimation biases in related variables, resulting in underestimations of economic size, population size, visa restriction, and international trade, while overestimating cultural and institutional differences, geographical distance, colonial relationship. (3) Various factors affect the Eurasian continental sub-region's air passenger flows differently, indicating regional variations. This study takes a step towards improving our understanding of network autocorrelation in air passenger flows research.

The selection of aircraft and engine models poses a significant challenge for Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) striving for profitability. This decision is compounded by numerous subjective and objective variables and the vast array of available aircraft and engine configurations. Current methodologies, utilizing Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and fuzzy logic, often simplify the problem, neglecting the engine consideration and limiting variables and alternatives. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology that circumvents these simplifications, considering engine configurations within the aircraft selection and addressing this problem for 27 parameters and real 51 selection alternatives. Through the consultation of different experts in the aeronautic field, we establish a comprehensive approach to assess the relative and overall performance of multiple variables, as well as their weights and hierarchy in the selection scheme. We apply this methodology to the aircraft selection problem in the medium-haul market, providing a framework and a solution for this currently unexplored literature domain. The results provide valuable insights for validating the devised methodology and providing relevant insights on the characteristics of the medium-haul market for LCCs.

Recent advancements in the development of a comprehensive urban air mobility ecosystem promise the opportunity for its implementation in the near future. However, the utility of this emerging mode of transportation in comparison to the existing modes varies for different trip purposes and geographical contexts. It is, therefore, imperative to assess its usage potential for various scenarios before moving forward with implementation efforts. This paper presents the findings of three stated preference surveys aimed at characterizing prospective urban air mobility travel demand for weekly business, airport access, and regional tourism trips in Iran. Hybrid multinomial logit and hybrid nested logit models are estimated for each trip purpose. The results indicate that urban air mobility for weekly business trips represents the most viable market segment. Value-of-time estimates for weekly business trips are more than two and a half times higher than those for airport access trips, and tourism trips are valued even less. There is a trend towards delaying the adoption of air taxis to gain trust, and reducing ticket prices is seen as the most effective incentive for increasing the adoption rate. This study pioneers research on urban air mobility in a developing country context, offering valuable insights into market viability for investors and policymakers.

This paper examines the provision, structure and curriculum content of taught postgraduate (Masters’ level) Air Transport Management degree programmes in the UK. In the academic year 2022–23, 14 UK Universities offered 19 different programmes. These programmes differed in terms of their duration, the fees that were charged, the delivery models, the content and the assessment regimes. In addition to examining the content and structure of the programmes, the paper conducts a SWOT analysis of the suite of degree programmes. While the inherent advantages of having a diversity of programmes for individuals, academic institutions and the air transport sector are recognised, it is suggested that prospective students and employers are cognisant of the differences between programmes to make informed decisions about their suitability and ability to meet personal career objectives and workplace planning requirements.

The rapid development of the aviation industry has brought convenience and noise hazards, altering the modes of travel but adversely affecting public health. Noise pollution is one of the essential factors affecting public health. This study offers a comprehensive examination of noise pollution data associated with the aviation industry, focusing on an array of airlines operating over 400 domestic routes within China from 2014 to 2019. It scrutinizes the noise emissions during the Lateral, Flyover, and Approach phases. It employs European Union standards to derive a formula for noise compensation relative to passenger volume, elucidating the quantum of noise indemnity allocable per passenger. (1) An upward trend in noise emissions is observed annually within China's civil aviation sector, with marked disparities in emission levels across various airports and airlines. (2) The mean annual value of noise compensation has shown a general decline, with China Express Airlines assuming a principal role in these compensations. (3) There is a correlation between noise compensation, noise emissions, and passenger volumes. Utilizing aircraft with low-emission and high passenger capacities significantly reduces airline compensation costs and safeguards the health of passengers and nearby residents.

We consider worldwide aviation safety on scheduled passenger flights over the years 2018–22, distinguishing the 34 weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic from the prior 26 weeks. Although the pandemic caused convulsions in airline operations, it caused no deviation from the trend under which global passenger death risk from accidents and deliberate acts dropped by about 7% per year. The nations of the world continued to differ substantially in passenger mortality risk, though nations in the previous “intermediate risk” category performed slightly better than those in the earlier “lowest risk” group. The difference, however, fell far short of statistical significance. Consistent with the previous pattern, passenger death risk in the “higher risk” nations was more than an order of magnitude higher than that in other nations. The transmission of Covid-19 aboard commercial flights may have taken thousands of lives worldwide over 3/20-12/22, which would have considerably exceeded passenger deaths over that period caused by accidents and deliberate attacks. However, this increase could be considered a transient effect if the pandemic is essentially over as of the mid-2020's.