Airline System Research Articles

Air connectivity and foreign direct investments: economic effects of the introduction of new routes

The key research question for this study was whether the spatial network structure offered by the global airline system contributes to the development of Italian inward Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). We argue that the introduction of a new route, by reducing firm’s transport costs and facilitating tacit and complex knowledge flow, should increase the likelihood of FDI exchange between newly connected regions. We employed a comparison group design considering both small and medium enterprises and large companies at the municipality level. The results showed that FDIs increased overall by 33.7% in the two years after opening of the new routes while FDIs in the control group decreased by 16.6%. Similar results were obtained using different measures of FDI (i.e. the number of generated employees) and by weighting the routes by their frequencies. Given the substantial benefits that urban areas can obtain from attracting multinational firms, our results provide new evidence of the contribution of transport infrastructures to local development. From a policymaker perspective, regional policies aimed at attracting FDIs must contextually promote the development of transport infrastructure and in particular international airports. Investments to improve air transport capacity, strategies to attract both traditional and low-cost airlines, providing legal authorization or financing ground transport are all critical aspects for the success of such policies.

Design of distribution network using hub location model with regard to capacity constraint and service level

The steps for transferring and store a product from the supplier to the customer in the supply chain is called distribution. The primary goal of supply chain managements is to deliver the correct product to the correct place at the correct time while maintaining cost efficiencies. Distribution is one of the most important factors in enterprises profitability because it effect on supply chain cost directly. Hub location problem can be used in designing a distribution network. Hubs are special facilities that serve as switching, transshipment and sorting points in the distribution systems. Instead of serving each origin-destination pair directly, hub facilities concentrate flows in order to take advantage of economies of scale (Babazadeh and Razmi, 2012). Hub-and-spoke networks are employed in various application like cargo transportation, airline system and telecommunication network. In this paper we develop a MILP model for designing distribution network by hub location method regarding hubs capacity and service level. The objective of this problem is minimising transportation and establishment of cost.

Dynamical evolution of complex airline system

As a typical open complex system, airline network usually interplays with the economic environment during its self-organized evolution. In this paper, we investigate empirically the correlation between gross domestic product (GDP) and the Chinese airline network (CAN). It is found that the degree of the node has formed a linear correlation with its corresponding GDP since 1998 while a year later the CAN began to exhibit double-power-law degree distribution. Based on the observation, the dynamical equation of CAN is derived. A multiplicative process-like evolution pattern, which strongly depends on the GDP growth rate, is obtained. We demonstrate that such a process coupled with the exponential increase of nodes can yield a double-power-law distribution. The simulation is applied to CAN and we find that the simulation result is in agreement with real CAN.

Airline Passenger Profiling Systems After 9/11: Personal Privacy versus National Security

This paper reviews the Transportation Security Administration's forthcoming computerized profiling system called "Secure Flight." Secure Flight is the latest generation of so-called "computer assisted passenger pre-screening systems." Such systems invite considerable privacy and civil liberty concerns, evoking references to an Orwellian society. This article confronts the central legal, political, and social tension borne of profiling systems such as Secure Flight, namely the conflict between the ideal of a "right to be let alone" (Warren and Brandeis 1890) relative to the post-Sept. 11 ultimatum of former American Airlines Chairman and CEO Robert L. Crandall (2002): "You want to travel on the airline system? You give up your privacy. You don't want to give up your privacy? Don't fly. Your privacy isn't equal to the safety of the rest of us."

A Study of Environmental Reporting: International Japanese Airlines

This study is a secondary data survey of results on the content of environmental reports in supporting tourism sustainability by examining environmental reports of three Japan-based airlines, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airline and Japan Air System. A modified report assessment model, containing 16 criteria, developed by Adams (1998, Environmental Accounting and Auditing Reporter, 3(3), pp. 4–6), was used in the analysis. It has been found that most of the elements were mentioned in those reports. Nevertheless, the definition about fuel efficiency in the environmental performance element is quite different and makes benchmarking a problem. An individual exemplary accomplishment of the airlines studied is also discussed. In addition, the categorization of waste is also diversified and some new reporting features have been identified. The purpose of this study is to highlight good practice of the airlines studied and make it a reference for airlines with slow development in environmental reporting, which helps to enrich the content of their reports.

Iterative use of the Bruggeman-Hanai-Sen mixing model to determine water saturations in sand

The accuracy of the Bruggeman-Hanai-Sen (BHS) mixing model has been previously demonstrated for two-material mixtures during BHS model development. Using permittivities determined from modeling ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data, the BHS model has been iteratively applied to three-material mixtures of water, sand, and a dense, nonaqueous-phase liquid (DNAPL). However, the accuracy of this application has not been verified. A 10-cm air-line system driven by a network analyzer is used to measure bulk permittivitities when the water saturations in a sand are varied (frequency range of 20 to 200 MHz). Through iterative use of the BHS mixing model, the measured permittivities are used to calculate water saturations, which are compared to known saturation values. An iterative BHS mixing model for an air/water/sand system must consider which two-material end member (air/sand or water/sand) represents the matrix term in the original two-material BHS model. An air/sand matrix provides the best accuracy for low water saturations, and a water/sand matrix provides the best accuracy for high water saturations; thus, a new weighted model is developed. For a given porosity and a measured bulk permittivity, water saturation is most accurately determined by proportionally weighting the water saturation values determined using air/sand as the matrix and water/sand as the matrix in the BHS model.

Cancer incidence in airline cabin crew: experience from Sweden

Aims: To determine the cancer incidence in Swedish cabin crew. Methods: Cancer incidence of cabin crew at the Swedish Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) (2324 women and 632 men) employed from...

Making the Case for Airline Compassion Fares: The Serial Organization of Problem Narratives During a Family Crisis

Faced with the need to make last minute and thus unexpected travel plans to visit his dying mother, a son searches for discounted and timely airline reservations. His search for compassion fares involves a series of interactions with family members before and after calls to major airlines. We identify specific devices for delicately initiating phone openings with airline agents, making a persuasive case for urgent and affordable assistance and soliciting special understandings regarding the legitimacy of his troubling circumstances. Attention is drawn to the serial organization and cumulative impact of calls over time, one advantage of working with longitudinal data. It is shown how an initial call with the son's mom and dad forms the basis for subsequent problem narratives, the contingent enactment of narratives as progressively built for agents, and a retrospective summary to an aunt whose advice about compassion fares was misinformed. Numerous ironies are identified: unavoidable disjunctures between institutional representatives and lay persons, how the son streamlines his actions as an upshot of learning about the airline system, and ways predictions about imminent death give rise to interactional trajectories susceptible to modification and change.

Ethnography, customers, and negotiated interactions at the airport

In the late 1990s, tightly coordinated airline schedules unraveled owing to massive delays resulting from inclement weather, overbooked flights, and airline operational difficulties. As schedules slipped, the delayed departures and late arrivals led to systemwide breakdowns, customers missed their connections, and airline work activities fell further out of sync. In offering possible answers, we emphasize the need to consider the customer as participant, following the human-centered computing model. Our study applied ethnographic methods to understand the airline system domain and the nature of airline delays, and it revealed the deficiencies of the airline production system model of operations. The research insights that led us to shift from a production and marketing system perspective to a customer-as-participant view might appear obvious to some readers. However, we do not know of any airline that designs its operations and technologies around any other model than the production and marketing system view. Our human-centered analysis used ethnographic methods to gather information, offering new insight into airline delays and suggesting effective ways to improve operations reliability.

Production seat booking system for the combination of make-to-order and make-to-stock products

This study deals with the problem of the production seat booking system. Like an airline or train booking system, customers' orders are assigned a production seat. Using the production seat booking system, inquiries about the delivery for individual orders can be answered quickly. The key issues in the production seat booking system are: (1) In which manufacturing environments are the production seat booking system appropriate and efficient? (2) How should the production seat be set? (3) How should orders be assigned a production seat? A production planning model is formulated for a production seat booking system with a combination of make-to-order and maketo-stock as production environment. Two kinds of variables are set as policy in the model: one is a variable for setting production capacity and the other a variable for assigning orders a production seat. By focusing on the characteristics of market demand, this paper clarifies the following points: (1) How do these policy variables affect the manufactuiring performance? (2) How does the buffer inventory for make-to-stock product affect the degree of the delivery date satisfaction for make-toorder products? (3) Within what range should the two policy variables be set in order to maintain the unfilled-rate of maketo-stock product under the specified level and the degree of delivery date satisfaction for make-to-order products over the specified level? This paper presents a basis for designing for a production seat booking system through a series of numerical experiments.

Interconnectivity of transport networks: a conceptual and empirical exploration

Interconnectivity of transport networks is a major aim addressed in transport policy today. It refers to different spatial scales and different traffic systems, implying different policy settings. The latter situation explains why interconnectivity as a concept is poorly defined in a generic sense. The paper addresses interconnectivity at a conceptual and operational level, and attempts to identify major generic aspects. Further, it considers interconnectivity in a policy context, by emphasizing its multi‐actor setting. In an empirical case study, the interconnectivity of particular Dutch cities with London is explored, while focusing on the rail and airline system. The paper concludes with a number of interesting issues for future research.

IBM journey management library: an arena system for airport simulations

Airline passenger terminal congestion caused by increasing passenger traffic results in unsatisfactory levels of customer service. We discuss a simulation modelling tool to help airlines and airports to use advanced technology to improve service to passengers. The tool consists of custom designed, reusable modules that represent the most common airline and airport system data, logic and processes. A model of an actual airline operation based on this approach is described.

Cosmic Radiation and Airline Pilots: Exposure Pattern as a Function of Aircraft Type

The project presented here has been carried out as part of an epidemiological project on Norwegian aircraft personnel, entitled 'Exposure to low level ionising radiation and incidence of cancer in airline pilots and crew'. The purpose of the main project is to determine if there may be a relationship between exposure to cosmic radiation at aircraft cruising altitudes and the incidence of cancer. The methodology used as basis for estimating the radiation exposures is presented. The information used as basis for the dose estimations comes from a variety of sources: the files at the Personnel Licensing Section and the Aviation Medical Section of Norwegian Aviation Administration, the route tables of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), large amounts of expert information contributed by members of the Pilot's Associations in Norway and a couple of non-Norwegian pilots and from other members of the staff of SAS and other airlines. The estimation for each pilot was based on individual information of annual block hours and an estimated dose rate for each type of aircraft. The latter was estimated as a weighted average of CARI-estimated doses on a selection of routes flown by the airplanes in the different time periods. The project includes all pilots that have been licensed in Norway since 1946. These pilots have been flying a large variety of different types of aircraft and routes. The cosmic radiation intensity is a function of altitude in the atmosphere and, less markedly, of geographical latitude and of the intensity of the radiation from the sun (quantified as the heliocentric potential). Different types of aircraft fly at different altitudes and are used for different purposes (passenger traffic, cargo, air photography, preparation of maps etc) and used on different routes. The end results of the project described in this article are radiation exposures per block hour for each type of aircraft, and for each individual year (the differences between years reflect the variation in intensity of the solar radiation, as well as variations in the route schedules of air companies). In the main project these results are subsequently combined with the number of block hours each year for each pilot to generate the individual radiation exposures per year and cumulative over the pilot's career. The end results of the calculations are dose rates per block hour (also referred to as flight hours) for Norwegian pilots employed by SAS, as a function of aircraft type and year. For planes used by the Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) the dose rate ranged from 0.07 µSv.h-1 (Twin Otter, 1975) to 4.3 µSv.h-1 (DC-10, 1975). For a given airplane more moderate, but still significant, differences over time were noticed, i.e. 2.5 µSv.h-1 (DC-10, 1980) and 4.3 µSv.h-1 (DC-10, 1975).

Permittivity and Permeability of Mullite‐SiC‐Whisker and Spinel‐SiC‐Whisker Composites

Real and imaginary permittivity (ɛ′ and ɛ″, respectively) values were determined on mullite‐silicon carbide whisker (mullite‐SiCw) composites, mullite‐ZrO2 composites, and spinel‐SiCw composites, in the frequency range of 2‐18 GHz, using a 14 mm coaxial air‐line measurement system. Depending on the frequency, the addition of 30 vol% of SiCw to mullite increases ɛ′ from 6.6‐6.9 to 16‐22 and increases ɛ′ from 0 to 16‐22. The addition of 32 vol% of SiCw to spinel increases ɛ′ from 7.5‐7.8 to 37‐44 and increases ɛ″ from 0 to 13‐20. The addition of 21 vol% of ZrO2 to mullite increases ɛ″ to ∼9 but does not change ɛ″. Real and imaginary permeability values were 1 and 0, which are within experimental error.

Decision support for airline system operations control and irregular operations

This paper reports on the application of the integration of computer science and operations research in a decision support system for airline system operations control. The application integrates real-time flight following, aircraft routeing, maintenance, crew management, gate assignment and flight planning with dynamic aircraft re-scheduling and fleet re-routeing algorithms for irregular operations. The system described in this paper was designed and developed on distributed desktop UNIX workstations, networked through ethernet TCP/IP communications, with an X Windows Motif graphical user interface. The algorithms help flight controllers optimally re-route the aircraft, crews and passengers when operational problems disrupt the execution of the schedule plan. The system includes: real-time, interactive, graphical aircraft routeing displays; a rule system which provides warnings of constraint violations and unusual conditions; and the ability to generate “what-if” solution scenarios. The integrated system is demonstrated by simulating a disruption to a planned schedule and by using one of the available tools, a network flow algorithm, to determine optimal re-routeing alternatives.

Missing networks in European transport and communications

The paper reports on missing networks in Europe's transport and communication infrastructure. Starting from the keyrole of infrastructure for economic development, it is argued that unless urgent action is taken to fill the gaps they threaten to reduce seriously the competitive advantages that will be gained from the single European market. Six examples of missing networks are presented in this study. They relate to combined freight transport, the European airline system, highspeed rail networks, European common carriage, inland waterways and telecommunication. The logic behind these missing networks is discussed and it is concluded that the problems can only be solved if one has a pentagon of concerns, rather than just a one‐ or two‐dimensional infrastructure planning policy.

Information management as the main component in the strategy for the 1990s in Scandinavian airline system (SAS)

The paper analyses SAS's development from a technology-based system ideology in the 1970s to a customer-based standard service system in the 1980s to an alliance-based complex system in the 1990s and an information management based sensitive service system towards the year 2000. We are investigating how the standard service system is expanding into a complex offering of core services, supporting services and facilitating services demanding advanced integrated information systems and strategic alliances. The key to success for SAS will be a highly qualified staff combined with strategic alliances and an advanced information management system that together will make it possible to offer a complex travel concept of high quality core services, supporting services and facilitating services. This means linking together the traditional service culture in SAS with a new information management based culture.

Air Passenger Linkages and Employment Growth in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

The article analyzes the relationship between the structure of airline network and employment growth in 104 metropolitan areas in the United States. Structural changes that accompanied the expansion of the airline system between 1950 and 1980 are documented using network methodology, and the effects of these changes in the airline network on metropolitan employment growth rate, focusing on employment in manufacturing and producer servicises, are assessed using regression analysis and nonrecursive models. Results show that position in the airline network has pervasive effects on metropolitan employment growth and that changes in the network position is a cause rather than a consequence of this employment growth. The article concludes that the reorganization of the airline network has been a critical factor transforming and integrating the spatial economy of the U.S.

Deregulated airline markets as open access commons

This paper adapts the Copes open access model of market rent dissipation to the analysis of a deregulated airline industry. It demonstrates that the open access characteristics of such airline markets lead to the dissipation of market rents. The problems of the U.S. airline system are depicted in terms of the model and some remedies are proposed.

Passive Smoking on Commercial Airlines

To the Editor. — While I agree that Passive Smoking on Commercial Airline Flights 1 provides good correlative data for environmental tobacco smoke on commercial jet aircraft, I do not agree that it represents a typical commercial flight as claimed. To make such an assertion, one would have to know the amount of outside air per passenger in absolute figures such as cubic feet per minute (percentage of recirculated air noted in the report is not sufficient), the time-weighted average of the number of cigarettes smoked, and the total number of passengers, none of which is provided. This information could then be correlated with airline system statistics to provide a representative picture. Each of these variables can have a marked effect on the levels of environmental tobacco smoke components and their resulting physiological effects. For example, the amount of outside air per passenger can vary sixfold with normal discretionary operation