TITLE: The Stochastic Ground-Holding Problem in Air Traffic Management
SPEAKER: Dr. Robert L. Hoffman, Senior Analyst with the Aviation Division of Metron Scientific Consulting, Inc.
RESUME-BIO: http://www.isr.umd.edu/~hoff

ABSTRACT:
The ground delay program is a mechanism used by the FAA to decrease the rate of incoming flights
into an airport when it is projected that arrival demand into the airport will exceed capacity.
We present an integer programming model for plannning ground delay programs.
The model considers a stochastic capacity profile which is represented by a set of airport capacity
scenarios and their probabilities. Both the demand on the airport and the output of the model are
represented at an aggregate level in terms or number of flights per unit time. This allows the model
to be used in conjunction with the latest processes for allocating individual flights
to slots. It was specifically designed to be used in the the Collaborative Decision Making setting
where individual flight assignments result from an iterative process involving both the airlines and
traffic flow managers. We explore the efficiency of the integer program through its linear programming dual.
This talk will also provide necessary overview on research in air traffic flow management.

KEY WORDS: Operations Research, Discrete Optimization, Integer Programming, Linear Programming,
Air Traffic Flow Management, Collaborative Decision Making, Network Flow