Flight delays in European airline networks

Abstract

In this paper we apply an index of interconnectedness to air transport networks. We study empirically how service quality, measured in average minutes of arrival delay, differs between network structures operated by European airlines. We observe that airlines with contrasting business models, low-cost carriers versus full-service carriers, prefer different network types. We run panel data fixed-effects on a sample of over two million flights that were operated in Europe between April 2015 and March 2016. Our main finding is, that airlines are more successful in managing delay when they operate a network with hub-and-spoke characteristics, especially if flights originate at one of their own hubs, compared to airlines that operate a network with point-to-point characteristics. Our findings support the hypothesis that at hubs, where the carriers have a dominant position, airlines internalize congestion into their own operations.