An application of survival and frailty analysis to the study of taxi-out time: A case of New York Kennedy Airport

Abstract

This study uses survival models to evaluate how selected operational factors affect the duration of aircraft taxi-out times at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. Frailty models help assess whether fixed or random effects are likely to explain differences between two summers, 2006 and 2007. The hourly departure records for summer are censored when operations occurred below the airport's ceiling and visibility minima, that is, in instrument meteorological conditions. Cox regression models showed that block delay and the percent of airport utilized capacity are most likely to increase the risk of longer taxi-out times in instrument meteorological conditions compared with other factors such as departure delays, arrival delays and the volume of departures. Frailty analysis reveals that taxi-out times are not significantly affected by either fixed or random effects.