Transportation engineering graduate student Donald Katz was recognized by the Graduate Research Award Program on Public-Sector Aviation Issues for the academic year 2011-12. Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation and administered by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) of the Transportation Research Board/National Academies, this award is presented for successful completion during the upcoming academic year of Katz's research paper entitled "Continuous Scheduling: Beneficial for Airports and Airlines". For this honor, Katz will receive a research stipend in the amount of $10,000.
Donny's research will investigate how passenger connections and revenue have changed through 
implementation of continuous schedules within the airline industry. Anyone who has flown recently is aware of the congestion that affects airports. According to Katz, many airports have reached their physical capacity with no option for expansion to meet near-term and long-term demand. In addition, airlines have long believed that banked flight schedules provide maximum passenger connection and revenue opportunities. However, in the past five years, American Airlines has challenged this belief through de-peaking and creating more continuous schedules. Katz will investigate how passenger connections and revenue have changed through AA’s implementation of continuous schedules.
Donny states, "I anticipate that my research will: (1) provide new insights into revenue benefits associated with airlines adopting continuous scheduling practices; and, (2) define market characteristics under which continuous schedules are beneficial to both airports and airlines. Continuous scheduling could be one strategy by which capacity and manpower at airports could be more efficiently utilized. From a personal perspective, this project will help me further my career goal of helping shape future aviation and airport policies. I am also looking forward to the opportunity to interact with mentors from ACRP’s advisory board who can help shape my project in ways that may be even more beneficial for airports and airlines."
Donny is a second year doctoral student who is being jointly advised by Drs. Michael Meyer and Laurie Garrow. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to study bus crowding in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2010, he won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study the role of airports on megaregions in the U.S. He is working with Dr. Garrow on data he collected as part of his Fulbright award to understand how bus design characteristics, stop locations, and crowding at doors influences safety and operational performance measures.