Using ground transportation for aviation system disruption alleviation

An investigation was made into whether passenger delays and airline costs due to disruptive events affecting European airports could be reduced by a coordinated strategy of using alternative flights and ground transportation to help stranded passengers reach their final destination using airport collaborative decision-making concepts. Optimizing for airline cost for hypothetical disruptive events suggests that, for airport closures of up to 10 h, airlines could benefit from up to a 20% reduction in passenger delay-related costs. The mean passenger delay could be reduced by up to 70%, mainly via a reduction in very long delays.