Management of airside delays

Abstract

Flight delays — defined as any flight departure or arrival that falls more than 15 minutes behind schedule — have become an inherent feature of the modern air transport system. Delays are caused by internal and external factors working individually and/or in combination. The main internal factor is the imbalance between the demand for flights and the capacity of the given air transport system component(s); this may happen under both regular and irregular operating conditions. For example, in the former case, capacity may not meet demand because of airline scheduling practice. In the latter case, capacity may not meet demand because of unforeseen shortcomings with certain system component(s). This paper analyses flight delays in the airport airside area and discusses the following measures for their mitigation: demand management, improvement of existing airside (runway) capacity and physical expansion of airside (runway) infrastructure.