How has COVID-19 impacted customer perceptions and demand for delivery services: An exploratory analysis.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created an environment where nearly all aspects of mobility changed to ensure the health and safety of the public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that people quarantine for 14 days if they were potentially exposed to the virus, stay at least six feet apart from others, and stay at home as much as possible. Delivery via third-party restaurant app, grocery, and package delivery quickly became an essential service. This study assesses customer's changes in use and perceived quality of delivery services in Southwest Virginia, via an online stated-preference survey (n = 423). The responses were analyzed using ordered logit and generalized ordered logit models to identify which population segments had changing delivery behavior and perceptions due to the pandemic. Findings include that before the pandemic, only households with an income greater than $100,000 had a significantly higher demand for package delivery services than those making less than $25,000. During the pandemic, all income brackets had a significantly higher demand for package delivery "weekly" than households with less than a $25,000 income, with a 19.50%, 22.54%, and 45.59% greater chance of use for income levels $25,000 to $50,000, $50,000 to $100,000, and over $100,000, respectively. This trend highlights that package delivery became necessary during the pandemic. Respondents who lived within town limits were statistically significantly more likely to use third-party restaurant delivery apps at least once a week before (3.10%), during (9.20%), and after (4.50%) the pandemic compared to those outside town limits. The results also found people who lived within town limits were 7.77% more likely to be satisfied with delivery services in general than those who lived outside town limits. The findings from this paper identify expanding delivery equity gaps within the population and provide recommendations for policymakers and delivery agencies. Some limitations include that low sample size did not allow for fully segmented models and meant that the study should be considered exploratory in nature.

Evaluation of Airport Size and Delay Causal Factor Effects on Delay Propagation Dissipation

The International Civil Aviation Organization identifies departure and arrival punctuality as on-time key performance indicators. However, these metrics assume a flight?s delay is a result of either the origin or destination airport, providing limited information on where delay should be mitigated in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). This study evaluates the relationship between delay propagation magnitude, delay causal factor, airport size, and charged facility (airport or Air Route Traffic Control Center), to examine if certain delays take longer to dissipate. First, using flights from July 2018, results show that most delay propagation chains originate at large-hub airports. However, these delays were the quickest to recover. Second, this study presents a regression model, predicting total propagated delay using fixed effects based on the weather region where the original delay occurred. Each additional flight affected by downstream delay adds 18.7?min on average to total arrival delay in a propagation chain. Additionally, if weather was the original causal factor, total propagated delay increased by 11.6?min compared with non-weather delays. Lastly, this study compares delay propagation in July 2018 and July 2020. Results show uneven impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the large-hub airports. Some of the investigated airports did not witness large improvements in average delay per delayed flight, warranting further research in the future. While delay and delay propagation have not been completely eradicated in the NAS during the COVID-19 pandemic, findings suggest that both have significantly declined on average.

How do Parents Manage Symptomatic Children? Social-Distancing Insights for COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza.

Strategies for controlling pandemics include social distancing. Using data from a 2016 nation-wide survey pertaining to influenza, (generalized) ordered logit models are developed to identify the factors associated with the relative frequency (never/sometimes/always) a household (a) isolates a sick child from others in the household, (b) keeps the sick child out of school/daycare, (c) stops the child's social activities, (d) has a parent stay home to care for the child, and (e) has another adult care for the child. Marital status is non-significant for isolation practices but is significant in caregiving. Married individuals are 25% more likely to report a parent always staying home with a sick child. Males are more likely to report never isolating a sick child (6%, 3%, and 2% for actions a, b, and c, respectively) and 3% more likely to never have a parent stay home. Individuals knowledgeable about the disease are 10% more likely to always keep a sick child home from school/daycare. Parents are 27% more likely to always stay home with an infant. Individuals who had never worn masks (before the survey) are less likely to isolate a child within the household, but do not act significantly differently with respect to school/daycare.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic U.S. Air Travel Operations and Commercial Airport Service

COVID-19 has brought the air transportation sector to a standstill. The purpose of this study is to assess COVID-19’s impact on domestic U.S. air travel operations and commercial airport service in light of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which offered financial assistance to air carriers and put in place requirements to maintain service to domestic cities served pre-pandemic. This study is based on air traffic data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Findings show that performed departures decreased by 71.5% in May 2020 compared to May 2019. The number of domestic U.S. markets served between commercial airports decreased by 32.1% during the same time as airlines modified their networks. Domestic air service reductions were not uniform. Airlines decreased their departure operations at larger airports more than at non-primary airports (73.7% versus 39.2%). Additionally, larger origin airports experienced a greater decline in domestic U.S. markets served compared to non-primary (35.2% versus 10.8%). Markets served by airports in multi-airport cities decreased more than airports in single-airport cities (38.5% versus 15.8%). These trends provide insight into how airlines’ responses to the pandemic have impacted service at U.S. airports, even with CARES Act regulations in place.

Influenza risk perception and travel-related health protection behavior in the US: Insights for the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Influenza is a contagious virus affecting both one's health and economic productivity. This study evaluates uses a survey of 2168 individuals across the U.S. Ordered logit regressions are used to model risk perception and generalized ordered logit regressions are used to model risk mitigation travel-related decisions. Models are estimated for three influenza outbreak scenarios, specifically an individual's travel-related: 1) risk perceptions, 2) risk mitigation decisions when infected and the individual wants to prevent spreading it, and may want treatment, and 3) risk mitigation decisions when not infected and the individual wants to reduce exposure. Risk perception results show that a recent personal experience with influenza-like symptoms and being female significantly increased risk perception at mandatory and medical trip locations. Risk mitigation model results show that males are less likely to alter their travel patterns in response to the possible spreading of the virus or increasing exposure. Knowing the difference between influenza and the stomach flu is more influential in reducing travel than a recent influenza experience in one's household. Individuals proactive with their health (i.e., receive the vaccine, have health insurance) are also proactive in seeking medical attention and reducing influenza spread. Lastly, aligned with the Protection Motivation Theory, individuals reduce travel to locations in which they perceived medium or high risk. However, increased risk perceived at one's work location did not significantly reduce travel. The findings provide insight into the risk perception and mitigation behavior of the American public during the COVID-19 pandemic and after restrictions are lifted.