Regional Ground Delay Program (R-GDP): Extending GDP to Regional Airport Systems

Following the authors’ previous research on real-time intermodalism, this study proposes a Regional Ground Delay Program (Regional GDP) concept into the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) system when a hub airport located in a regional airport system encounters a severe airside capacity reduction. It suggests air traffic flow managers evaluating not only the imbalance of traffic demand and terminal capacity at this hub airport but also excess capacities at other airports in the same region assuming that airlines could incorporate ground modes into their disruption management and use ground vehicles to transport passengers and crew members between original scheduled and diverted airports. A mathematical programming model is established to help air traffic flow managers to make decisions on initiating a Regional GDP advisory. A case study at SFO is conducted. Results show that an initiation of the Regional GDP is suggested on a day with severe weather condition.