Exploring critical attributes during air traffic congestion with a fuzzy DEMATEL–ANP technique: a case study in Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Abstract

Abstract The constant growth of air travel in the Philippines has brought about significant consequences to air traffic congestion. Given limited resources, major airports seek to address this issue while considering various attributes generally affecting air transportation. This paper adopts fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory–analytic network process (DEMATEL–ANP) to identify the most critical attributes in the commercial aviation industry. A case study participated by key experts of Ninoy Aquino International Airport was conducted to illustrate the proposed approach. The fuzzy DEMATEL–ANP model performed satisfactorily as it was able to extract the global priority vectors of attributes under a fuzzy environment. The results showed that aviation safety is most prioritized, as can also be seen from the significant influence it brings on other attributes. Following next to safety in terms of priority are attributes that address the general air transportation system such as economic value, environmental value, social value, equitable treatment of competing airline, customer goodwill, and utilization of runway and terminal. Then, attributes relating to passenger cost, fuel cost, extra crew cost, landing/take-off fee, and cost of using flight routes are of last priority. Given the order of priorities and criticality of each attribute, short-term and long-term policies can be framed accordingly to propose air traffic flow management actions that can best address the issue on congestion.

Keywords

• Air traffic congestion
• ANP
• Fuzzy DEMATEL
• MCDM