Princeton University Users: If you would like to view a senior thesis while you are away from campus, you will need to connect to the campus network remotely via the Global Protect virtual private network (VPN). If you are not part of the University requesting a copy of a thesis, please note, all requests are processed manually by staff and will require additional time to process.
 

Publication:

Weathering the Storm: How Network Design Shapes Airline Resilience in Extreme Weather

dc.contributor.advisorHackl, Jurgen
dc.contributor.authorBlohm, Emeline B.
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-05T20:02:23Z
dc.date.available2025-08-05T20:02:23Z
dc.date.issued2025-04-14
dc.description.abstractExtreme weather events pose significant challenges to the reliability and efficiency of commercial air travel in the United States. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of these events, it is essential to understand how airline networks are able to manage their responses and which structural features improve operational resilience. This thesis investigates the impact of Hurricane Helene (September 2024) on U.S. airline operations by modeling airline networks as graphs and analyzing changes in flight activity and connectivity. Using historic flight data from Flightradar24, the study compares airline networks during a control period and during Hurricane Helene, quantifying disruptions through changes in flight volume and network structure. Airline performance is evaluated using both standard centrality metrics and measures such as percent change in number of flights and network distance, a measure of the dissimilarity edge structure between two networks. Additionally, a series of ridge regressions are performed across different scales to assess how airline-specific structural characteristics, including number of destinations, number of routes, number of hubs, low-cost status, and partnership status, relate to observed changes in performance. The findings reveal that network disruptions were uneven across airlines, and that structural features such as redundancy, connectivity, and decentralized operations contributed to greater performance. Airlines with more routes and without extensive partnerships tended to perform better during Hurricane Helene. The study also finds that the effects of the hurricane propagated beyond directly impacted areas, influencing distant parts of the network. The results highlight the importance of network design in disruption management and support the use of network science as a practical tool for understanding and improving airline robustness and resilience. This case study provides a foundation for integrating empirical data with theoretical models to inform strategic planning in aviation systems.
dc.identifier.urihttps://theses-dissertations.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp014f16c627t
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.titleWeathering the Storm: How Network Design Shapes Airline Resilience in Extreme Weather
dc.typePrinceton University Senior Theses
dspace.entity.typePublication
dspace.workflow.startDateTime2025-04-14T20:22:33.453Z
pu.contributor.authorid920276391
pu.date.classyear2025
pu.departmentCivil and Environmental Engineering

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Blohm_Emeline_Thesis.pdf
Size:
5.7 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
100 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download