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Agent-Based Evaluation of the Airplane Boarding Strategies’ Efficiency and Sustainability

Author

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  • Camelia Delcea

    (Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest 010552, Romania)

  • Liviu-Adrian Cotfas

    (Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest 010552, Romania)

  • Ramona Paun

    (School of Business & Technology, Webster University, Bangkok 10120, Thailand)

Abstract

The airplane turnaround time costs money to the airline companies and, over the years, it has been determined that the best way to reduce it is by using efficient boarding strategies. Many boarding strategies have been proposed but a consensus as to which is the best method has not been reached yet. The aim of this paper is to gather and test all these strategies considering the same initial conditions in order to help airline companies identify the best boarding strategy. Minimizing the costs not only contributes to airlines’ sustainability and long-term performance, but also influences their ticketing policy, and has an impact on their customers’ choices. Moreover, airports can benefit from the fact that the airline companies are optimizing their boarding strategies as they can extend the number of services offered to more airlines during one day without investing in new infrastructure. Thus, this paper considers 24 boarding strategies and builds a configurable agent-based model using NetLogo 6.0.2 to perform different simulations. The results are analysed using grey systems theory considering the aircraft dimensions, aircraft occupancy and whether or not passengers are carrying hand luggage that may need storage.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:1879-:d:150697
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Delcea, Camelia & Cotfas, Liviu-Adrian, 2019. "Increasing awareness in classroom evacuation situations using agent-based modeling," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 523(C), pages 1400-1418.
    3. 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).
    4. Sun, Xiaoqian & Wandelt, Sebastian & Zheng, Changhong & Zhang, Anming, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic and air transportation: Successfully navigating the paper hurricane," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Schultz, Michael & Evler, Jan & Asadi, Ehsan & Preis, Henning & Fricke, Hartmut & Wu, Cheng-Lung, 2020. "Future aircraft turnaround operations considering post-pandemic requirements," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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