## 3 Risks of Extended Ground Times
### Economic Impact of Extended Ground Times and Competitiveness  
The logistic system of the aviation sector is very complex. Air transport operations have the power to influence local, national, and international economies. The scope of the industry grew with the introduction of lower air fares. Today, the Air Transport Action Group noted that air transport directly supports 11 million jobs, 6 million more than in 2012. Further, the number of employed people rises to almost 88 million when taking indirect and induced jobs into account [14; 24]. However, extended GTs not only impact the general free economy, they also affect the success of aviation stakeholders. Specifically, in  
Figure 3: Turnaround Gantt-chart for a typical single aisle aircraft. Source: inspired and adapted from [PERSON] 2014, p. 6 [23].  
the segment of regional and short-to-medium haul flights, as they make the largest share of global air traffic [3].  
In today's highly competitive environment of the aviation industry, all stakeholders aim to differentiate from their competitors. Market pressure forces them to generate a competitive advantage. One method to do so is the implementation of quick and cost-efficient processes [2]. The Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe aims to reduce TATs by 40% until 2050 [25]. Accordingly, the TAT, taxi time, or on-time performance serve as a key performance indicator (KPI) and are core interests for the different stakeholders. KPIs must be aligned with the company's needs [26]. They are important for performance monitoring that aims to evaluate the competitiveness and profitability of an organization [27]. The time required for the ground processes defines the number of flights that an airport can operate per day. Extended GTs lower the overall throughput of airport stands [7]. Airports could miss out on revenue the higher the gate utilization per aircraft. They are two-sided platforms that generate revenue from non-aeronautical and aeronautical businesses. The higher the passenger flow, the larger the non-aeronautical revenues. Additionally, more flights per day increase the aeronautical revenue of airports as they can sell more occupancies of gate positions or slots to airlines. If both sides contribute, the airport can financially break even [28]. This can be achieved through faster ground operations that also lay the foundation for the negotiation of higher airport charges [23]. Every minute an aircraft stays longer on the ground directly affects the cost of operations. A delayed aircraft departure can cost between $30 and $250 per minute [29]. Additionally, the soaring airport charges and fuel prices make it increasingly difficult to cut back costs without minimizing the quality of the product [8]. This drives the necessity to reduce costs wherever and whenever possible. Parking charges are a significant cost position, and so are extended taxi times. Longer taxi times require a higher fuel burn which induces cost as well [30]. Even aircraft manufacturers are interested in short TATs as they magnify the market value of aircraft. Airlines are more willing to buy aircraft that promise short TATs. This shows that the turnaround serves as a competitive weapon as it defines the aircraft utilization. A high aircraft utilization reduces the average cost by spreading fixed costs and leads to profitable aircraft operations [27]. The same applies to GH service providers. The revenue potential increases with the number of services they can offer, e.g., ground transportation of passengers which is defined by the duration of operations [23]. In general, drivers for cost are personnel and equipment. Shorter GTs allow a respective shorter deployment and hence reduce cost [23]. Summarizing this, aircraft must return to the sky as fast as possible.