DETERMINING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG AIRPORT OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE AREAS AND OTHER AIRPORT CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

In this thesis, a methodology is proposed to investigate pair-wise relationships between different types of airport operational performance variables. The methodology represents a fundamental contribution for comparing airport performance between different air traffic management systems. Considerable attention is paid to analyzing the most appropriate techniques in an effort to produce the most reliable results. Additionally, a method to display the results in a simple and clear way is also suggested to allow users to understand the results visually. The key variables obtained from the proposed methodology not only serve as building blocks for developing models to answer a variety of air traffic questions, which allow policy makers to make decisions on allocating resources wisely, but also can be used as an evaluation tool to assist the FAA in selecting candidate projects.