Analysis of US Airport Performance
Abigail Beasley
3/21/2022
Roadmap
1. High Level Takeaways
2. First Glance
3. Data Manipulation
4. Analysis
5. Further Questions
6. Where to Go from Here?
High Level Takeaways
- Larger airports are associated with longer delay times.
- Delay times are longest during summer and autumn.
- The three biggest causes of time delays are: carrier, late aircraft, and the National Aviation System.
- Individual airport efficiency varies month-to-month.
Definitions:
Throughout this report, we will be looking at various causes of delayed flights. Below is a reference guide for how causes of delay are defined:
Air Carrier: The cause of the cancellation or delay was due to circumstances within the airline’s control (e.g. maintenance or crew problems, aircraft cleaning, baggage loading, fueling, etc.).
Extreme Weather: Significant meteorological conditions (actual or fore-casted) that, in the judgment of the carrier, delays or prevents the operation of a flight such as tornado, blizzard or hurricane.
National Aviation System (NAS): Delays and cancellations attributable to the national aviation system that refer to a broad set of conditions, such as non-extreme weather conditions, airport operations, heavy traffic volume, and air traffic control.
Late-arriving aircraft: A previous flight with same aircraft arrived late, causing the present flight to depart late.
Security: Delays or cancellations caused by evacuation of a terminal or concourse, re-boarding of aircraft because of security breach, inoperative screening equipment and/or long lines in excess of 29 minutes at screening areas.
At First Glance: Questions 1-3
This report will analyze the airport delays of 29 airports from 2003-06-01 to 2013-03-01.
Flight Cancellations and Delay Times across Airports
|
|
Minutes Delayed (Monthly)
|
Flights Cancelled (Monthly)
|
|
Minimum
|
14,752
|
4
|
|
Maximum
|
989,367
|
3,482
|
|
Median
|
101,626
|
129
|
|
Mean
|
137,348
|
218
|
At First Glance: Question 4
The plot below illustrates the average delay times from June of 2003 to March of 2013.
At First Glance: Question 5
a. The following table shows the average number of carriers each airport usually has servicing it each month.
|
Airport
|
Carriers
|
|
Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
|
13.50
|
|
Boston, MA: Logan International
|
13.92
|
|
Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall
|
12.57
|
|
Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International
|
12.13
|
|
Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National
|
13.51
|
|
Denver, CO: Denver International
|
14.19
|
|
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International
|
13.93
|
|
Detroit, MI: Detroit Metro Wayne County
|
14.07
|
|
Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International
|
12.93
|
|
Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
|
11.04
|
|
Washington, DC: Washington Dulles International
|
12.91
|
|
Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston
|
12.12
|
|
New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International
|
10.09
|
|
Las Vegas, NV: McCarran International
|
14.64
|
|
Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International
|
14.53
|
|
New York, NY: LaGuardia
|
13.59
|
|
Orlando, FL: Orlando International
|
13.06
|
|
Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International
|
7.73
|
|
Miami, FL: Miami International
|
10.69
|
|
Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International
|
13.25
|
|
Chicago, IL: Chicago O’Hare International
|
13.08
|
|
Portland, OR: Portland International
|
11.50
|
|
Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International
|
13.28
|
|
Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International
|
14.57
|
|
San Diego, CA: San Diego International
|
14.10
|
|
Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International
|
12.86
|
|
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International
|
13.49
|
|
Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International
|
11.76
|
|
Tampa, FL: Tampa International
|
11.39
|
b.
The airport averaging the lowest number of carriers is Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International with 7.73 average carriers
The airport averaging the highest number of carriers is Las Vegas, NV: McCarran International with 14.64 per month.
c. While Northwest Airlines did not service every airport every single month, it was able to service all 29 airports at one time or another from 2003 to 2013.
At First Glance: Question 6
Which carriers are present in the data?
|
Carriers
|
|
AirTran Airways Corporation
|
|
Alaska Airlines Inc
|
|
Aloha Airlines Inc
|
|
America West Airlines Inc
|
|
American Airlines Inc
|
|
American Eagle Airlines Inc
|
|
ATA Airlines d/b/a ATA
|
|
Atlantic Coast Airlines
|
|
Atlantic Southeast Airlines
|
|
Comair Inc
|
|
Continental Air Lines Inc
|
|
Delta Air Lines Inc
|
|
ExpressJet Airlines Inc
|
|
Frontier Airlines Inc
|
|
Hawaiian Airlines Inc
|
|
Independence Air
|
|
JetBlue Airways
|
|
Mesa Airlines Inc
|
|
Northwest Airlines Inc
|
|
Pinnacle Airlines Inc
|
|
SkyWest Airlines Inc
|
|
Southwest Airlines Co
|
|
United Air Lines Inc
|
|
US Airways Inc
|
|
Virgin America
|
Data Manipulation: 2
a. Monthly Flight Delays Due to Late Aircraft
The plot below illustrates the frequency of delays from late aircraft over the months.
b. The month that experienced the most delays due to late aircraft was 2007-12-01 with 40727 total delays, while the month with the fewest late aircraft delays was on 2003-09-01 with 9552 total delays.
c. In 2010, the airport that had the most delays was with 28,276 total delays.
Data Manipulation: 3
Airlines that serviced Airports and their Corresponding Codes:
Airlines and their Corresponding Codes
|
code
|
carrier
|
|
AA
|
american airlines inc
|
|
AQ
|
aloha airlines inc
|
|
AS
|
alaska airlines inc
|
|
B6
|
jetblue airways
|
|
CO
|
continental air lines inc
|
|
DH
|
independence air
|
|
DL
|
delta air lines inc
|
|
EGA
|
eagle airline
|
|
EV
|
expressjet airlines inc
|
|
F9
|
frontier airlines inc
|
|
FL
|
airtran airways corporation
|
|
HA
|
hawaiian airlines inc
|
|
JX
|
southeast airlines
|
|
NW
|
northwest airlines inc
|
|
OH (1)
|
comair inc
|
|
OO
|
skywest airlines inc
|
|
TZ
|
ata airlines dba ata
|
|
UA
|
united air lines inc
|
|
US
|
us airways inc
|
|
V9
|
eagle airlines
|
|
VX
|
virgin america
|
|
WN
|
southwest airlines co
|
|
YV
|
mesa airlines inc
|
Note: Two airlines (Pinnacle Airlines and Atlantic Coast Airlines) that serviced airports between 2003-2013 were omitted due to the fact that they have since gone out of business.
List format:
american airlines inc, AA, aloha airlines inc, AQ, alaska airlines inc, AS, jetblue airways, B6, continental air lines inc, CO, independence air, DH, delta air lines inc, DL, eagle airline, EGA, expressjet airlines inc, EV, frontier airlines inc, F9, airtran airways corporation, FL, hawaiian airlines inc, HA, southeast airlines, JX, northwest airlines inc, NW, comair inc, OH (1), skywest airlines inc, OO, ata airlines dba ata, TZ, united air lines inc, UA, us airways inc, US, eagle airlines, V9, virgin america, VX, southwest airlines co, WN, mesa airlines inc, YV
Analysis: 1
- Average number of flights cancelled: 219
- Average number of flights delayed: 2,457.
Analysis: 2
Relationship Between Season and Cause of Delay
- Airport delay times vary by season.
- The three biggest causes of time delays are carriers, late aircraft, and the National Aviation System.
- It is unclear from the bar chart if cause varies by season.
A two-way ANOVA test helps us answer three questions:
- Is there a significant difference in delay times from season to season?
- Is there a significant difference in delay times from cause to cause?
- Does the proportion of delays due to any particular cause vary by season?
Results:
## Df Sum Sq Mean Sq F value Pr(>F)
## cause 4 7.121e+12 1.780e+12 1547.01 <2e-16 ***
## season 3 3.715e+11 1.238e+11 107.61 <2e-16 ***
## cause:season 12 2.093e+11 1.745e+10 15.16 <2e-16 ***
## Residuals 17050 1.962e+13 1.151e+09
## ---
## Signif. codes: 0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1
Interpretation:
- Delay times vary with season.
- Delay times differ with cause.
- Season affects cause of delay.
Analysis: 3
Flight Delays at ATL
If a flight is delayed at ATL:
What percentage of flights are delayed/cancelled etc?
Percentage of delays, cancellations, or diversions by Airport
Where to Go from Here
Due to limitations with the data set it is difficult to draw conclusions as to which carriers are responsible for the most delays. More data is needed to help inform your travel decisions.
How do your employees make travel decisions? This data can be used to influence travel policy via policies in your travel platform.
Recommendation: Use this application to anticipate airport inefficiencies and avoid flight complications.