Estimating domestic US airline cost of delay based on European model

Researchers are applying more holistic approaches to the feedback control of the air transportation system. Many of these approaches rely on economic feedback, including the cost of delays to the airlines. Establishing an accurate mechanism for estimating the cost of a delays for each portion of a flight (gate costs, taxiing in and out costs, and en-route costs) is useful for many aspects of modeling airline behavior and for better understanding the likely impact of regulations.Cook et al. (2004) developed a rigorous methodology and collected data for estimating the components of airline delay costs for various segments of a scheduled flight. The model, based on confidential information from European airlines for 12 types of aircraft ca. 2003, was not transparent with regards to how each of the major components of cost (crew costs, fuel costs, maintenance, depreciation, etc.) impacted that total. This paper describes the development of an airline cost model, based on the Eurocontrol model. The airline cost model explicitly identifies the components of airline costs, is based on US airline cost data, and includes 111 aircraft types. The new model is designed to allow costs to be updated whenever the basic costs change. It considers the type of the aircraft when making calculations, both from the perspective of fuel burn and other costs and uses publically available data on burn rates and block-hour direct operating costs (BHDOC) to obtain these estimates. A case-study analysis of airline costs of operation at 19 major US airports is provided.

► The cost factors from the EC report and costs reported by US carriers in BTS P52 database follow similar trends. ► The appropriate coefficient for crew and maintenance cost is determined that, when combined with the other factors produced delay cost factors close to those reported in the EC report. ► Airborne delays, when incurred, dominate ground delay costs, so airlines are economically encouraged to maximize ground delay costs. ► Newer more fuel efficient aircraft provide airlines with the least delay costs. ► The cost of delay is not proportional to the flights flown.