Assessment of Alternative Policies for Decreasing Government Expenditures on Commercial Air Travel.

摘要

This research assesses several possible policies aimed at decreasing government expenditures on commercial air travel from WPAFB. The policies evaluated, regard the use of the promotional fares commonly offered by the large commercial air carriers. These promotional fares are generally lower than the fares presently used by government travelers, but there are significant penalties associated with itinerary changes after ticket purchase. Computer simulation was used to evaluate these policies. A survey of travel records and a questionnaire administered to a random sample of WPAFB travelers were used to gather information regarding key travel characteristics of base personnel. This data was used as input to the simulation model. Total annual cost, including airfares and penalties, was used as a measure of performance, and separate experiments were run for each policy evaluated. The results point to cost savings for some of the policies and losses for others. Recommendations for management action and further study are presented. Theses. (jhd)