Quantifying delay propagation in airline networks

We develop a framework for quantifying delay propagation in airline networks by integrating structural modeling and machine learning methods to estimate causal effects. Using a comprehensive dataset on actual delays and a model-selection algorithm (elastic net), we estimate a weighted directed graph...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: DOU, Liyu, KASTL, Jakub, LAZAREV, John
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2795
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3794/viewcontent/Quantifying_Delay_Propagation_in_Airline_Networks__1_.pdf
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
Description
Summary:We develop a framework for quantifying delay propagation in airline networks by integrating structural modeling and machine learning methods to estimate causal effects. Using a comprehensive dataset on actual delays and a model-selection algorithm (elastic net), we estimate a weighted directed graph of delay propagation for each major airline in the United States and establish conditions under which the propagation coefficients are causal. These estimates enable a decomposition of airline performance into "luck" and "ability." Our findings indicate that luck accounts for approximately 38% of the performance difference between Delta and American Airlines in our data. Additionally, we leverage these estimates to analyze how network topology and other airline characteristics, such as aircraft fleet heterogeneity, influence expected delays.