The Grainger College of Engineering
Illinois Center for Transportation

Irregular operations, flight delays and passenger delays: Some newish evidence

By Mark Hansen on 03/26/2026 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in 1611 Titan Dr., Rantoul, IL 61866

Join Mark Hansen of the University of California, Berkeley as he presents via Zoom at the Spring 2026 Kent Seminar Series Thursday, March 26 from 2-3 p.m. (CT).

The Spring 2026 semester is set to feature 14 presentations, each addressing a topic related to innovation trends in aviation. See the full lineup of speakers for Spring 2026 semester.

Pizza and soft drinks will be provided beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the ICT Classroom. 

All presentations will be held on Zoom, but some speakers will present in person at ICT.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://go.illinois.edu/KentSeminar

Meeting ID: 856 1731 4207  
Passcode: 019160

Abstract

Flight delay has long been known to cause passenger delay, but the relationship between the two is nonlinear. A passenger may still arrive on time despite a delayed first flight, or may face hours of delay or an overnight stay if that delay causes a missed connection. In this talk, we analyze a unique data set provided by an airline partner of the Center for Air Transportation Resilience, or CATRes, a University Leadership Initiative focused on making the air transportation system more resilient to disruptions. We use the data to model passenger delay from flight-delay data and place the work within CATRes’ broader research program.

Bio

Mark Hansen is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on urban transportation planning, air transportation systems modeling, air traffic flow management and aviation system performance analysis. He is Berkeley’s co-director of the National Center of Excellence in Aviation Operations Research, a multi-university consortium sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration. He received the Horonjeff Award for his air transportation research in 1985. He holds a doctorate in transportation engineering and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in physics and philosophy from Yale University.