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Analysis of Airplane Boarding Times

Author

Listed:
  • Eitan Bachmat

    (Department of Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel)

  • Daniel Berend

    (Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel)

  • Luba Sapir

    (Department of Applied Mathematics, Holon Institute of Technology, and Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel)

  • Steven Skiena

    (Department of Computer Science, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794)

  • Natan Stolyarov

    (Department of Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel)

Abstract

We model and analyze the process of passengers boarding an airplane. We show how the model yields closed-form estimates for the expected boarding time in many cases of interest. Comparison of our computations with previous work, based on discrete-event simulations, shows a high degree of agreement. Analysis of the model reveals a clear link between the efficiency of various airline boarding policies and a congestion parameter that is related to interior airplane design parameters, such as distance between rows. In particular, as congestion increases, random boarding becomes more attractive among row-based policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Eitan Bachmat & Daniel Berend & Luba Sapir & Steven Skiena & Natan Stolyarov, 2009. "Analysis of Airplane Boarding Times," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 499-513, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:57:y:2009:i:2:p:499-513
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1080.0630
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Menkes H. L. van den Briel & J. René Villalobos & Gary L. Hogg & Tim Lindemann & Anthony V. Mulé, 2005. "America West Airlines Develops Efficient Boarding Strategies," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 191-201, June.
    2. Van Landeghem, H. & Beuselinck, A., 2002. "Reducing passenger boarding time in airplanes: A simulation based approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 294-308, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Camelia Delcea & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Ramona Paun, 2018. "Agent-Based Evaluation of the Airplane Boarding Strategies’ Efficiency and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-26, June.
    2. Srinivas R. Chakravarthy, 2024. "Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Aircraft Round-Trip Times Using Phase Type Distributions," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Michael Schultz & Jörg Fuchte, 2020. "Evaluation of Aircraft Boarding Scenarios Considering Reduced Transmissions Risks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Neumann, Simone, 2019. "Is the boarding process on the critical path of the airplane turn-around?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(1), pages 128-137.
    5. Milne, R. John & Delcea, Camelia & Cotfas, Liviu-Adrian & Salari, Mostafa, 2019. "New methods for two-door airplane boarding using apron buses," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Jaehn, Florian & Neumann, Simone, 2015. "Airplane boarding," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(2), pages 339-359.
    7. Camelia Delcea & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Liliana Crăciun & Anca Gabriela Molanescu, 2018. "Are Seat and Aisle Interferences Affecting the Overall Airplane Boarding Time? An Agent-Based Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Qiang, Sheng-Jie & Jia, Bin & Jiang, Rui & Huang, Qing-Xia & Radwan, Essam & Gao, Zi-You & Wang, Yu-Qing, 2016. "Symmetrical design of strategy-pairs for enplaning and deplaning an airplane," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 52-60.
    9. Ren, Xinhui & Xu, Xiaobing, 2018. "Experimental analyses of airplane boarding based on interference classification," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 55-63.
    10. R John Milne & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Camelia Delcea & Liliana Crăciun & Anca-Gabriela Molănescu, 2020. "Adapting the reverse pyramid airplane boarding method for social distancing in times of COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-26, November.
    11. Erland, Sveinung & Bachmat, Eitan & Steiner, Albert, 2024. "Let the fast passengers wait: Boarding an airplane takes shorter time when passengers with the most bin luggage enter first," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 317(3), pages 748-761.
    12. Camelia Delcea & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Nora Chiriță & Ionuț Nica, 2018. "A Two-Door Airplane Boarding Approach When Using Apron Buses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, October.
    13. Camelia Delcea & Liviu-Adrian Cotfas & Mostafa Salari & R. John Milne, 2018. "Investigating the Random Seat Boarding Method without Seat Assignments with Common Boarding Practices Using an Agent-Based Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-28, December.
    14. Fabrin, Bruna H.P. & Ferrari, Denise B. & Arraut, Eduardo M. & Neumann, Simone, 2024. "Towards balancing efficiency and customer satisfaction in airplane boarding: An agent-based approach," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    15. Michael Schultz & Michael Schmidt, 2018. "Advancements in Passenger Processes at Airports from Aircraft Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, October.
    16. Salari, Mostafa & Milne, R. John & Delcea, Camelia & Kattan, Lina & Cotfas, Liviu-Adrian, 2020. "Social distancing in airplane seat assignments," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    17. Hutter, Leonie & Jaehn, Florian & Neumann, Simone, 2019. "Influencing factors on airplane boarding times," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 177-190.
    18. Qiang, Sheng-Jie & Jia, Bin & Xie, Dong-Fan & Gao, Zi-You, 2014. "Reducing airplane boarding time by accounting for passengers' individual properties: A simulation based on cellular automaton," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 42-47.
    19. Wald, Andrew & Harmon, Mark & Klabjan, Diego, 2014. "Structured deplaning via simulation and optimization," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 101-109.
    20. Schultz, Michael & Soolaki, Majid & Salari, Mostafa & Bakhshian, Elnaz, 2023. "A combined optimization–simulation approach for modified outside-in boarding under COVID-19 regulations including limited baggage compartment capacities," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    21. Bachmat, Eitan, 2019. "Airplane boarding meets express line queues," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 1165-1177.

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