STOR Colloquium: Vinayak Deshpande, UNC Kenan Flagler

Vinayak Deshpande

Kenan Flagler Business School,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Data Driven Research: Understanding and Improving Airline Flight Schedules using BTS data

The last decade has seen an explosion of operational data that is now available to researchers. In this talk, I will share my experience in conducting research with large datasets made publicly available by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). These data sets include flight schedule data, FAA operations and performance data, DOT’s domestic airline fares consumer report, and the T-100 domestic market data. These data sets provide granular information on airline operations in the United States. My prior research has used this data to model the intrinsic uncertainty in the travel time of any commercially scheduled domestic flight in the United States, as well as built models of how this uncertainty propagates in airline networks. These data driven models can be used to understand airline flight schedules through a descriptive lens, as well as in building prescriptive models for improving airline flight schedules. I will summarize my findings on airline flight schedules in this talk, as well as discuss potential research opportunities that can use this data.

 Links to relevant papers:

Reliable Air Travel Infrastructure

Airline Flight Delays

Refreshments will be served at 3:00pm in the 3^rd floor lounge of Hanes Hall