Business Commons^™

Investigating The Costs And Economic Impact Of Flight Delays In The Aviation Industry And The Potential Strategies For Reduction, Ashmith Anupkumar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study addressed a critical issue in our travel life: flight delays. This study covers all aspects of a flight delay, from its causes and consequences to reduction strategies. The focused research questions were: To determine the outcome of flight delays in the aviation industry, to determine costs associated with flight delays for airlines, airports, and passengers, and to determine strategies for reducing flight delays in the aviation industry for robust findings. The findings for each question were as follows: the primary causes were overscheduling, airport hubbing, late check-ins, technical failure, etc. And the consequences were significant financial loss, the …

An Investigation Into The Economic Useful Life Of Commercial Aircraft As Impacted By Maintenance And Economic Variables, Robert Gallagher

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This research involved examining the economic useful life of commercial aircraft and the impact of maintenance and economic variables on the viability and longevity of the asset. The data sample consisted of the entire population of Boeing commercial aircraft produced between 1956 and 2021. The objective was to determine the effect of both maintenance and economic variables on the longevity and usefulness of commercial aircraft. As manufacturers work with issues such as service life, economic life, safety, and critical design features, those in the aviation community focus on the operational side of the equation––how long can one operate the asset, …

Cost Estimating Relationships For Recurring T100 Flyaway Costs, Kyrie M. Rojo

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates a dataset of over 80 Air Force and Navy aircraft and applies regression techniques to create two cost estimating relationships (CERs) for predicting recurring T100 flyaway costs, depending on where in the acquisition lifecycle the estimate takes place. The first CER explains 89 percent of the variation in the dataset and can be applied prior to Milestone B (MS B). The second CER explains 88 percent of the variation in the dataset and can be applied between MS B and MS C. Significant cost drivers identified include stealth, cohort, empty weight, the natural log of speed, legacy …

Investigating Supply Parts Delivery Delay From Supply Depot To King Khaled Air Base In Royal Saudi Air Force, Rashed S. Alkhathami

Theses and Dissertations

Aircraft supply parts is an important factor in preparing the aircraft to do its mission. Due to delayed delivery of parts or inefficient delivery process, time may be lost waiting for aircraft supply parts, causing mission delay or failure. By tackling the delivery delay causes we can insure improvement on delivery process. In order to gather data for this thesis two different tools were used, aircraft parts data and an interview. Data was gathered from the F15 maintenance and supply squadrons in the Royal Saudi Air Force. Results of this research showed diverting in the main duty of supply depot …

Evaluating Performance Competencies In The Royal Saudi Air Force Engineering Directorate And Squadrons, Faisal A. Al Dawood

Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of tasks performed by the directorate of aeronautical engineering and squadrons in RSAF directly impacts flight safety, which in turn influences the organization either positively or negatively. Therefore, improving engineers' competencies will improve the overall performance of the organization. The study refined and reconstructed a model, namely a T-shape competency model, to assess the engineers' competencies which revealed some management and competency-related deficiencies and concluded with managerial recommendations.

Commercial Short-Haul Flight Or Autonomous Mobility-On-Demand: Modeling Air Passengers’ Modal Choice, Agatha Kessler Fentress

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Commercial short-haul flights (SF) are vital to airports and airlines because they account for one-third of hub traffic and have higher profit margins than the long-haul market. While U.S. commercial air passenger travel has increased steadily over the past decades, SF has been declining and was doing so before the unprecedented decrease in air travel caused by restrictions related to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Once autonomous mobility-on-demand (aMoD) is more viable than the human-driven car, demand for SF could be negatively impacted. Although there is published research on SF and aMoD, studies on factors influencing the choice between SF and …

Coronavirus Disability Survey: Assessing The Impact Of Covid-19 On Young Adults With Disabilities, Hena Rashid

Student Research Submissions

This paper seeks to inform individuals of the importance of digital inclusivity, diminish the digital divide, and accessibility to technological services of college students who experience a form of disability. The United States has conducted minimal research on the digital disability rhetoric, promoted minimal disability-inclusive measures to protect the rights and well-being of college students, and minimal assistance to mitigate Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts to this population subgroup. This subject can have a big impact on individuals who suffer from disability stigma, low accessibility issues, and who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Furthermore, this subject will benefit college students …

Comparison Of Airline Co-Branded Credit Card Programs Via Frequent Flyer Money Saver Analysis For Full-Service U.S. Carriers, Bora Suavi Unsal

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Although airline alliances work fairly effectively for paid flight segments, passengers who want to redeem frequent flyer miles often encounter difficulties. Sometimes airlines demand an extensive amount of air miles to book requests for award seats to not only their partner airline customers but also their own customers. Furthermore, while the airline co-branded credit card award mile earnings and redemption rates fluctuate significantly between different airlines, passengers are not well informed about which airline co-branded credit card requires the minimum amount of credit card expenditure to fly with an award ticket to their desired travel destination.

A more useful and …

Cost Optimization Modeling For Airport Capacity Expansion Problems In Metropolitan Areas, Woo-Jin Choi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to develop a cost optimization model to identify an optimal solution to expand airport capacity in metropolitan areas in consideration of demand uncertainties. The study first analyzed four airport capacity expansion cases from different regions of the world to identify possible solutions to expand airport capacity and key cost functions which are highly related to airport capacity problems. Using mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP), a deterministic optimization model was developed with the inclusion of six cost functions: capital cost, operation cost, delay cost, noise cost, operation readiness, and airport transfer (ORAT) cost, and passenger …

Examining Military Cargo Pilots' Eco-Friendly Flying Intention, Ioan A. Gaitan

Theses and Dissertations

The US Air Force is the largest operational energy consumer within the Department of Defense primarily due to aviation fuel use. Military pilots can play important roles in saving aviation fuel by flying aircraft in an eco-friendly manner. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention is the major predictor of behavior. This study tests two models based on TPB for understanding cargo pilots’ eco-friendly intentions when they conduct channel or logistics missions. The study found that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control were significant antecedents to intention in a multiple regression with aggregated scales.

Resilient Maintenance Infrastructure: Dynamic Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Supply Chain Disruptions, David W. Wallace Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Supply chains are facing numerous changes contributing to their increase in complexity and vulnerability to disruptions. Subsequently, decision-makers lack a transparent, generalizable tool to quantify supply chain resilience and assess additional resilience investments. This research facilitates a more profound understanding of the intricacies and interrelation of supply chain nodes and constructs. It integrates the Area under the Curve (AUC) metric to quantify performance or any organizational measure of competitive advantage amid a disruption. Due to its structural resemblance to various organizational platforms, the subset United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 engine repair and supply network is modeled employing discrete-event simulation. …

The Obstacles To The Modernization Of Common Support Equipment, J. Erik Ritschard

Theses and Dissertations

The current fleet of Common Support Equipment (CSE) is faced with a $2B funding disconnect that threatens 9 of the 12 USAF Core Functions. This research identifies the barriers to efforts to modernize CSE across the sustainment, acquisition, and maintenance communities. Using a qualitative, grounded theory methodology, the responses are explored of interviewed Support Equipment managers responsible for the sustainment and modernization of CSE. Significant barriers to current modernization efforts were exposed, resulting in expensive, duplicative, and unreliable equipment; concluding that the AF must change the way CSE is administrated, funded, and culturally understood to prevent future mission degradation.

Investigation Of An Avionics Part Deficiencies In Royal Saudi Air Force Fleets, Nasser S. Alanazi

Theses and Dissertations

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) is experiencing a shortage in certain avionics parts due to a lack of reliability. This issue is causing a supply chain disturbance in the F1-15 fleet and the Hawk fleet. One of the factors behind this problem is the environmental effects in Saudi Arabia .The study will investigate and analyze the methods for the Improvement Cycle Processes and the Quality Management within the RSAF repair cycle. Finding show that, the discrepancies are rising during summer and fall time due to the environment change, Other finding were addressed in the study.

Sortie-Based Aircraft Component Demand Rate To Predict Requirements, Thomas R. O'Neal

Theses and Dissertations

Weapon System Sustainment (WSS) costs are growing at an increasing rate despite the vast efforts to reduce them. Researchers have attributed much of the cost increase to inaccurate demand forecasts for weapon system spare parts. In 2011, the forecast to sustain all United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft was 19% accurate and WSS costs per year have continuously increased. The purpose of this study is to explore a parsimonious change to aircraft component forecasting to reduce costly forecast error. This study substitutes flying hours with sorties for the purpose of demand forecasting. Many F-16 and B-52 spare parts are evaluated …

Resilient Aircraft Sustainment: Quantifying Resilience Through Asset And Capacity Allocation, Zachary B. Shannon

Theses and Dissertations

Decision makers lack a clear, generalizable method to quantify how additional investment in inventory and capacity equates to additional levels of resilience. This research facilitates a deeper understanding of the intricacies and complex interconnectedness of organizational supply chains by monetarily quantifying changes in network resilience. The developed Area under the Curve metric (AUC) is used to quantify the level of demand that each asset allocation can meet during a disruptive event. Due to its applicability across multiple domains, the USAF F-16 repair network in the Pacific theater (PACAF) is modeled utilizing discrete event simulation and used as the illustrating example. …

Undergraduate Pilot Training Attrition: An Analysis Of Individual And Class Composition Component Factors, Christina M. Akers

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force is working hard to reduce the shortage of nearly 2,000 pilots that threatens the Air Force’s core mission. Officials have focused on increasing retention and training throughput. Despite this, the first Pilot Training Next class graduated in August of 2018 with 13 of the initial 20 students (65.5% graduation rate). The purpose of this research is to explore attrition reduction by understanding how class composition of individual abilities and personalities affects the class graduation rate. Using AFOQT scores, SDI+ scores, PCSM scores, flight hours, and college GPAs, correlations were studied and a simple linear regression was run …

Inherent Jeopardy Of Performance Based Contracting Metrics: A Simulation Experiment, Daniel Cherobini

Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing trend across the world to adopt Performance Based Contracting strategies to support logistics systems. Using these policies, contract payments are strongly related to the performance achieved compared to prespecified metrics. However, managers are not always confident on what are the most suitable performance goals to use in these agreements. As a consequence, contractors struggle to deliver the desired performance results, while aircraft fleets experience an increase in support costs. And when the results are inadequate, leaders are tempted to impose even more performance targets to contractors, willing to exercise more control over the support organization. In …

The Effects Of Funding Gaps On Depot Maintenance Hours, Carlo S. D'Amato

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between expenditures and readiness level is a topic of interest to military senior leaders, defense resource planners, and the American taxpayer alike. Senior leaders within the Air Force (AF) justify increased defense budgets by pointing to the potential adverse effects that decreased funding could have on military readiness. Resource planners within the AF are then tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that budgets are allocated most effectively to maximize the AF's ability to project airpower across a variety of contingency operations. This thesis investigates the relationship between budgets and readiness by examining the relationship between depot level funding …

Disrupting Complex Systems With Emerging Technologies: A Study On United States Airport Operations, Emily J. Grone

Honors Theses and Capstones

The number of United States domestic commercial flight passengers are growing every year, which means the number of people checking-in, dropping off their bags, and going through TSA within airports is equally growing. With the increasing number of passengers and aging airports, there are several areas of pain points within airports where passengers hit a bottleneck due to the current systems that airports have in place. There are three main areas that we are going to reference. First the check-in process, where customers have to get their tickets, input identification information, and check-in for their flight. Second, baggage-drop off, where …

Evaluation Of Rsaf Airworthiness And Applicability, Majed M. Altowairqi

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on evaluation of Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) airworthiness processes and their applicability. The current RSAF airworthiness process is in accordance with internationally recognized best practice in the area of military aviation, this is achieved by benchmarking against European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Airworthiness policy for the RSAF is developed on the basis that it will be as civil as possible and as military as necessary. For the purpose of this research, the current RSAF airworthiness process will be benchmarked against the United States Air Force (USAF) airworthiness process. That …

Low-Fare Flights Across The Atlantic: Impact Of Low-Cost, Long-Haul, Trans-Atlantic Flights On Passenger Choice Of Carrier, Jennifer Nicole Hunt

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Full-service carriers (FSCs) have long ruled the trans-Atlantic market, due to the absence of low fare competition, which has kept airfares high. However, renewed interest in lowcost, long-haul (LCLH) flights was prompted by efficient aircraft, low fuel prices, liberalization of air markets, and low-cost carriers’ growth opportunities. Since 2013, multiple LCLH carriers have commenced trans-Atlantic operations, and their market share has grown to 8%. In response, FSCs are establishing their own LCLH subsidiaries and/or introducing basic economy airfares to more effectively compete in the trans-Atlantic market. The purpose of this dissertation was to further the understanding of LCLH and FSC …

Flightline Heroics And The Façade Of A Healthy Common Support Equipment Fleet, Benjamin D. Bobic

Theses and Dissertations

Access to serviceable support equipment enables aircraft maintenance crews the ability to efficiently keep assigned aircraft safe and mission capable. Current Air Force policy does not require formal management and enterprise fleet health reporting of serialized support equipment. As such, articulating funding requirements to replace equipment has been a challenge for equipment managers. To better articulate support equipment requirements, equipment managers need quantifiable support equipment data. A previous study examined the relationship between aircraft availability and support equipment availability. While finding no significant correlation, the author identifies the practices of "Frankensteining" and "Beg-Borrow-Steal" as possible reasons for the absence of …

The Study On Shanghai International Air Transportation Hub, Diandian Li

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Service Improvement And Cost Reduction For Airlines: Optimal Policies For Managing Arrival And Departure Operations Under Uncertainty, Heng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Annual U.S. air travel demand has been growing steadily by 4-5% over the last decade, and it is estimated that the demand will nearly double in the next twenty years. It has also been estimated by the International Civil Aviation Organization that global demand for commercial aircraft will increase at an average annual rate of 4.1% by 2034 (IATA, 2014). However, airport expansions and aviation infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with the increase in air traffic demand, as only 3% of all the new airport projects around the world are planned in the U.S. (CAPA, 2015). Thus, the operation …

Applying Lean To The Ac-130 Maintenance Process For The Royal Saudi Air Force, Fisal A. Alzahrani

Theses and Dissertations

The ideas expressed in this research come from the researchers experiences working in the AC-130 maintenance squadron in the Royal Saudi Air Force. The AC-130 maintenance process is not currently being used as effectively as it could be to make AC-130 fully mission capable. That can be done by improving communication, reducing distances needed to move or transport anything during the maintenance process and by efficient use of the available qualified workforces, tools and equipment. Consideration is given to applying an existing management technique to the Royal Saudi Air Forces AC-130 Maintenance Squadrons. The selected technique is the Lean management …

The Effects Of Is-Bao Implementation And Leadership Performance On Safety Culture In Business Aviation Flight Operations, Christopher Mark Broyhill

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The International Standard, Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), with a Safety Management System (SMS) as its core element, has been widely accepted by both the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the business aviation industry as the mechanism to create a healthy safety culture among the business aviation operators who have implemented the standard. Scholarly literature, however, has presented leadership as the most important factor in the creation and management of a healthy safety culture in organizations in general and aviation organizations in particular. This study examined and compared the effects of IS-BAO progression and leadership performance on the perceptions of …

Applying Gis Technology In Airport Management, Eleanor Clark

Honors Projects

This honors project involved applying two disciplines to aid in advancing the efficiency of airport management at the Toledo Express Airport. I utilized my geography and aviation knowledge and geographic information system (GIS) skills to create a GIS, a webmap, and a 3-in-1 map-based program that had the capabilities of executing Part 139 Self Inspections, asset management, and work orders. The GIS system and webmap were successfully created to aid in management, cohesiveness, and efficiency within the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, the managing entity of the Toledo Express Airport. For the 3-in-1 map-based program, I worked closely alongside a programmer …

Predicting The Market Share Of A New Airport In Multi-Airport Cities: The Case Of Lagos, Samson Oladele Fatokun

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The primary objective of the study was to develop an empirical model that combines the contingent valuation method (CVM) with the isochrone analysis to predict the market shares of new airports in multi-airport cities and to apply the model to the case of Lekki International Airport (LIA), the proposed second airport in Lagos, Nigeria. In addition to predicting the market share that LIA could attain, the study also identified and analyzed the catchment areas as well as the willingness to pay (WTP) of would-be LIA passengers. Furthermore, the research identified the determinants of airport choice in the Nigerian market. The …

Determination Of Factors That Influence Passengers’ Airline Selection: A Study Of Low Cost Carriers In Thailand, Thapanat Buaphiban

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This research examined the factors that influenced the airline selection of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) in Thailand. The research was justified based on the rapid growth of LCC travel in Thailand, particularly in domestic and regional travel. There is a relative lack of successful explanation of the choice of LCCs in Thailand, with only a few studies addressing topics like passenger satisfaction and perceptions of service quality. Following an extensive literature review, the author used a theoretical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) in order to explain passenger behavioral intentions. This framework was supplemented by …

The Effects Of Ethical Leadership And Organizational Safety Culture On Safety Outcomes, David Ronald Freiwald

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This dissertation investigated the relationship among ethical leadership, an ethical workplace climate, safety culture, safety behaviors, and measured safety outcomes of workers in the high reliability organizations of aviation and healthcare. The primary objective was to develop a model linking these factors and assess their fit within the model. A secondary objective was to examine differences between the two populations. In this study, a 101-item instrument was used to collect and analyze employee responses on ten factors comprising the model. Structural equation modeling – path analysis was used for testing and evaluating relations using a combination of statistical analysis and …