Methods for
Curbing Exemption Bias in Ground Delay Programs Through
Speed Control
Transportation
Research Record
2400, pp. 37-44
Ground delay programs allow flights originating beyond
a specified distance to become exempt from any delay imposed by the program.
This exemption leads to a biased allocation that favors longer flights over
shorter ones and alters an otherwise fair allocation. This paper presents two
algorithms to reduce this exemption bias through speed control. The first
algorithm attempts to assign the maximum possible delay achievable through
speed control to the exempt flights. The second algorithm begins by prescribing
the maximum possible delay to exempt flights but works to improve on this
allocation by acting to fill holes in the schedule with speed-controlled exempt
flights whenever possible. Both algorithms demonstrate considerable delay
transfer relative to distance-based ration-by-schedule; however, the second one
also reveals some ability to improve throughput.