Business Commons^™

Incorporating Safety Excellence Into Urban Air Mobility (Uam): Insights From Commercial Aviation, Rotorcraft, And Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas), Seyoung "Evie" Jang

Senior Honors Theses

This paper focused on safety considerations in Urban Air Mobility (UAM) through a cross-industry examination of commercial aviation, rotorcraft, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Although UAM promises transformative benefits, there are safety concerns remaining. Based on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Concept of Operations (ConOps), the literature review explained the fundamental concepts of UAM. In commercial aviation, regulatory framework, pilot training and certification, vehicle design and maintenance, and emergency response planning are emphasized. For rotorcraft, safety requirements for vertical flight, collision avoidance systems, heliport standards, and weather adaptability are crucial. Leveraging UAS advancements, the study suggested autonomous systems, sense-and-avoid technology, …

Green Skies Over Akron: “Revolutionizing Cak With A $20m Sustainability Blueprint", Oluwasemilore A. Akintelure, Kyle Rediger, Katie Horn

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Our groundbreaking research at Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) proposes a transformative $20 million electrical master plan, designed to revolutionize the airport into a sustainable aviation hub and an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) leader - a unique stance compared to similar airports in its economic corridor. This initiative, poised to impact millions of travelers, integrates cutting-edge solar panel installations and infrastructure for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles. Our comprehensive analysis, encompassing energy consumption, economic impacts, and risk assessments, underpins this ambitious project. The implementation of green energy solutions is projected to substantially reduce CAK's carbon footprint, leading to a healthier …

Assessing Past Airworthiness Directives And How Safety Management Systems May Benefit Aviation Product Design And Manufacturing, Damon Lercel Ph.D., Manoj Patankar Ph.D., Richard Steckel Ph.D.

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) continues to promulgate Safety Management Systems (SMS) across aviation organizations when it recently issued SMS requirements for EASA certificated Part 145 maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organizations and Part 21 Design & Manufacturing (D&M) organizations. Currently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has no such rule in place for these U.S.-based organizations, which may challenge those doing business in countries where EASA policies apply. Given that a majority of the United States’ D&M and MRO population is made up of smaller organizations, it is likely a U.S. SMS regulation will require justification of the …

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, …

Change Fatigue In Aviation Maintenance Through A Human Factors Lens, Stephanie Douglas, Bettina Mrusek

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Aviation is a demanding and fast-paced industry and it is not uncommon for aviation professionals, including maintainers, to experience rapid disruption and organizational change. Fatigue in aviation professionals is a known risk. Fatigue risk management systems (FRMS) seek to mitigate this risk by focusing on tiredness resulting from long work hours and lack of quality sleep. Recently, change fatigue has also risen to the forefront of business and employee studies. In many of today’s industries, change is constant as firms implement changes either to address disruptions, business growth or to follow trends in the industry. Frequent changes in an organization …

Development Of A Safety Performance Decision-Making Tool For Flight Training Organizations, Marisa D. Aguiar Phd, Carolina L. Anderson Phd

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The purpose of the research was to create and validate a safety performance decision-making tool to transform a reactive safety model into a predictive, decision-making tool, specific to large, collegiate Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 141 flight training organizations, to increase safety and aid in operational decision-making. Using Monte Carlo simulation, the study conducted simulation runs based on true operational ranges to simulate the operating conditions possible within large, collegiate CFR Part 141 flight training organizations with varying levels of controllable resources in terms of personnel (Aviation Maintenance Technicians and Instructor Pilots) and expenditures (active …

Neutralization Of Fuel Tankering Emissions For Environmental Sustainability, Peter O'Reilly, Maria Petrescu, Fabricio Sulzbacher, Diogo Coutinho

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

As aviation has been one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions, this paper explores sustainable solutions in the equation of the economic savings from the fuel tankering practice, in a way it could represent gains of credibility for this industry (Boussauw & Vanoutrive, 2019). The fuel expenses in Brazil have been responsible for the highest operational cost for the airlines and, as a result, there has been an ongoing pursuit of the highest level of efficiency (ANAC, 2019). In this context, this study has been focused on the emerging Brazilian aviation market, and uses primary data collected from three major …

Integrated Dynamic Airline Route And Schedule Optimization, Bayan Begaliyeva

Student Works

By harnessing real-time and historical data in conjunction with advanced AI technologies, this project revolutionizes route and schedule planning, leading to enhanced efficiency, cost reduction, and an improved passenger experience.

Ads-B Communication Interference In Air Traffic Management, George Ray

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Automated Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) provides position and state information about aircraft and is becoming an essential component in the global air traffic management system. ADS-B transponders broadcast this key information on a common frequency to both other aircraft and to secondary surveillance radar systems located at ground stations. Both the aircraft transponders and the ground stations work together to assist in managing the commercial airspace. Since the aircraft transponders all broadcast on the same frequency and are in close proximity there is an apparent risk of interference and the garbling of the communications needed to manage the airspace.

The …

Single Pilot Operations And Public Acceptance: A Mixed Methods Study Conducted In Greece, Panagiotis Kioulepoglou, Ilias Makris

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The airline industry is moving towards Single Pilot Operations (SPO), as a result of the increased training and salary cost of pilots, and also as a remedy to the impending pilot shortage which is estimated to manifest itself in the years to follow. The main objective of this study was to explore whether the Greek public is willing to accept only one pilot onboard, what are the factors that affect this decision, and which is the preferred method of replacing the second pilot by choosing between an array of alternative options proposed by the industry.

Based on the qualitative findings …

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 …

Aviation Supply And Demand In The São Paulo And Rio De Janeiro Systems Evolution: An Exploratory Study, Leila Halawi, Bruno De Paula Balan, Renan Cipriano Da Cunha, Maria Claudia Ferreira Da Cunha

Publications

Aim/purpose – Multiple factors affect a passenger’s origin and destination airport choice. This study explores some of the leading indicators associated with performance in cities with more than one airport. Two important Multi-Airport Systems (MAS) in Brazil were the object of this study: São Paulo (Congonhas and Guarulhos) and Rio de Janeiro (Santos Dumont and Galeão), the most significant demand-generating centers in the country and the most critical distribution centers of flights from South America.

Design/methodology/approach – Using public databases presenting the evolution of supply and demand from 2013 to 2018, the evolution of flights, and the sales by airlines …

Qualitative Findings From The Practice Of Outsourcing By The Aviation Technical Services Industry In Northern Europe: Comparison With Literature, Jukka Holkeri

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The outsourcing of maintenance and other technical services is a trend in both military and civil aviation. This article uses input from real outsourcing cases in Northern Europe to verify previous literature findings and to introduce new viewpoints to fill an identified research gap.

Interviews of deeply involved individuals from six cases were selected and analyzed using the Delphi method. The findings were synthesized using a framework that articulates contexts, observed outcomes, and generative mechanisms.

Many of the key literature findings were verified by this case analysis, but there were also some contradictions and new observations that had not been …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Aviation-Wildlife Strikes Across Europe, Isabel C. Metz, Marta Giordano, Dionysios Ntampakis, Marianna Moira, Anneke Hamann, Rosanne Blijleven, Jürgen J. Ebert, Alessandro Montemaggiori

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Collisions between aircraft and wildlife (i.e., wildlife strikes) pose a serious threat toward the safety of aircraft, its crew, and passengers. The effects of COVID-19 related travel restrictions on wildlife strikes are unknown. With this study, we aim to address this information gap by assessing the changes of wildlife hazard management performance across European airports during the lockdown period (e.g., period of reduced operations and borders closure in spring 2020). We also sought to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife strike prevention in times of reduced operations. The objective of our study was to compare wildlife strike data before …

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 …

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. …

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. …

Under Pressure: Decision Making In Aircraft Maintenance And The Role Of Gender, Stephanie Douglas Ph.D., Bettina M. Mrusek Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

In aircraft maintenance, leaders are under near-constant pressure to maintain airworthiness. Every minute an aircraft cannot fly due to maintenance represents financial waste. Decisions are therefore made in a relatively quick fashion. A leader evaluates the situation, identifies a course of action and then communicates this message to a team of technicians. However, gender influences regarding leaders’ decisions can influence team members’ perceptions of those decisions.

The study will measure decision making methods of leaders in aircraft maintenance and the perceptions of the technicians. It informs how gender influences decision making from both the leader and follower perspective. The expected …

Revisiting Cost Index - The Challenge Of Calculating A Precise Figure For Brazilian Airliners, Joaquim Pedro De Albuquerque D'Orey, Guilherme Amaral Da Silveira

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Within numerous possibilities, Cost Index (CI) is the tool that can provide economic speeds and deliver the lowest cost for a given flight. Cost Index is a highly volatile number that shifts its optimum value in several different circumstances. Through the analysis of the Brazilian regulation, operation and infrastructure reality, this paper reviews several influencers that can interfere with the optimum CI value for a specific flight, aiming for maximum precision and economy. A structured questionnaire was submitted to pilots from four of the biggest Brazilian airliners operating under part 121. The purpose of this questionnaire was to investigate whether …

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 …

Scenario-Based Strategic Planning For Future Civil Vertical Take-Off And Landing (Vtol) Transport, Woojin Choi, Steven Hampton

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Rapid evolvement of the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technology in conjunction with recent robust R&D has demonstrated the technical feasibility of the civil VTOL system as a short-haul mass transit mode. Its combined benefits of a helicopter and a turboprop into one aircraft is expected to become an effective remedy for congested air traffic and difficulties with airport expansions in the metropolitan areas along with the potential benefit to improve accessibility to population centers and remote areas where conventional aircraft cannot access.

In this study, based on a the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL) factors and …

Airport Ceos And The Decentralized System Of Airports: A Case Study, Marjan Mazza

Publications

The job of the airport CEO is complex with responsibility for the security and safety of a large and dynamic facility and, yet the FAA does not have regulatory qualification and performance standards for the position. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to explore the primary attributes that could be the leading indicators in the event national standards for the hiring of airport CEOs are pursued at major commercial airports. The guiding conceptual framework of the study was to combine competency with the concept of training and development. Airport CEOs from six airport facilities were interviewed, and an …

A Conceptual Framework For Valuating Airline Frequent Flyer Program Miles, Yi Gao

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Frequent flyer programs of airlines have gradually evolved into a multi-billion dollar business over the years. Valuing frequent flyer program miles accurately and fairly has its practical implications both for airlines and members of frequent flyer programs. As a ground-breaking academic study dedicated to airline loyalty programs, this study aims to build a conceptual framework to guide the valuation of miles. Through comparing required miles for different award types with their equivalent cash prices, this study has successfully addressed the purchasing power of AAdvantage miles of American Airlines when they are used for award redemption. Not only can this study …

Efficiency Analysis Of A Congested Brazilian Airport Applying Slots Optimization Control: Congonhas Airport Case, Mariana Franco B. Mendes, Rafael Roco De Araujo, Ana Paula Beck Da Silva Etges, Massoud Bazargan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The current slot allocation mechanism in Brazil, based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) rules, and its supplementary local regulation The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), displays a few issues and limitations (e.g. slot misuse, allocation inefficiencies). Such issues are particularly present in the case of busy airports that works near their maximum capacity for major parts of the day. This inefficiency problem is generated because of the complexity of slot allocation added to the limited decision support available for the Brazilian system. This study focuses on the implementation of an optimal slot model, based on IATA regulations with …

Order Fulfillment Errors And Military Aircraft Readiness, Michael Weber, Daniel Steeneck, William Cunningham

Faculty Publications

This paper aims to measure the effect of supply discrepancy reports (SDRs) on military aircraft readiness metrics, including aircraft availability, not mission capable supply (NMCS) hours, cannibalizations and mission-impaired capability awaiting parts (MICAP) hours.

Monthly SDR, NMCS, aircraft cannibalizations and MICAP data from 2009 to 2018 are analyzed using linear regression and independent samples t-tests to examine whether discrepant shipments negatively impact aircraft readiness.