Simultaneous Traffic Management Initiatives: The Double Delay Problem

Abstract

The “double delay” problem in aviation arises at congested airports when short-haul flights experience consecutive additive delays generated by two different and unintegrated traffic management initiatives: one delay caused by a ground delay program followed by a second delay caused by the “call for release” program. This paper studies the sensitivity of these delays when the proportion of short-haul flights is changed at an airport. The study airport is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). The study day is a high-volume traffic day in the summer of 2018 combined with low-visibility weather that impeded the airport's arrival capacity for much of the day. The combination of high volume and low visibility triggered a ground delay, while overall congestion in the National Airspace System triggered a predeparture “call for release” for flights within 400 nautical miles (nm) of PHL. The results in this paper quantify the magnitude of the double delay, and show its sensitivity as the number of short-haul flights vary.