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TERMINAL PROBLEM NEIL ROBINSON
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IMPACT © THE OR SOCIETY
THANKS TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, many of us might have forgotten how dizzyingly busy airports can be in normal times – and how easily late passengers can disrupt the delicate ecosystem of flight arrivals and departures. Can O.R. help solve the problem of missed connections and messed-up timetables? Like creaking baggage carousels and glitzy duty-free shops, last calls for flights are a recognised element of an airport’s ambience. They bring comfort to those already safely ensconced at a departure gate. They provoke simmering resentment among those
long since ready for take-off. They spark panic in those still desperately rummaging in their luggage at some distant passport control. Crucially, they also indicate potential problems for managers. When last calls assume a genuine air of imminent finality – that is, when missing passengers are summoned by name – the chances are that behind the scenes, in whatever passes for an airport’s nerve centre, brows are becoming furrowed and timetables are in danger of unravelling. This is because a breakdown in passenger flows, as they are known, is
