AVTechLab · Aviation Operations Research

The gate is where delay begins.

The Gate Pressure Index is a computational method for measuring compressed turn conditions at the gate level and tracing their propagation across regional airport clusters before they become departure delay. Built from operational observation at Orlando International Airport. Validated against real ramp data. Independent research.

Origin Node MCO — Orlando International
Patent Filed Application 63/869,997
Status Phase One · Active
Published Working Paper · June 2026
The argument
Every airport delay starts somewhere. Most analysis finds it after it has already propagated. GPI finds it before the aircraft pushes back, at the gate, in the turn schedule, measured against what history says is actually achievable. When one airport's gates run compressed, the next airport on that aircraft's rotation already has a problem. It just does not know it yet.

Three-tier framework

GPI operates at three levels simultaneously. Airport-level scoring feeds cluster-level aggregation, which feeds super cluster propagation. Each tier adds a distinct analytical capability and a distinct patent claim.

Tier 01 — Airport
Gate Pressure Index
Turn time performance measured against the Historical Turn Minimum for each aircraft type. When scheduled turns fall below that baseline, the gate is compressed. GPI scores the aggregate pressure across an airside in real time.
HTM scoring Compressed Turn Threshold Window
Tier 02 — Regional Cluster
Cluster Pressure Aggregation
Airport-level GPI scores aggregate into a cluster pressure signal. Aircraft tail tracking connects departure performance at one airport to arrival conditions at the next airport in the rotation chain.
Florida Northeast California Texas Midwest
Tier 03 — Super Cluster
National Propagation Model
Cluster-level scores feed a national pressure model. The Eastern Super Cluster connects Florida, the Northeast, and the Midwest. The Western connects California and Texas. A cross-continental bridge links both.
Eastern Western Bridge

Key concepts

Terminology is locked across all published work, the patent filing, and the operational dashboard. Precision in language is precision in the claim.

Historical Turn Minimum
The 15th percentile of all observed turn times for a given aircraft type at a given airport. Represents the practical lower bound of achievable performance under normal operating conditions. The floor every compressed schedule is measured against.
Compressed Turn
A scheduled turn time that falls below the Historical Turn Minimum for the relevant aircraft type. Plain-language designation for what the data calls an HTM Flag. When turns are compressed, margin disappears. When margin disappears, propagation begins.
Threshold Window
The condition declared when aggregate gate pressure crosses the point where normal operational recovery is no longer statistically probable without active intervention. Not an alarm. A forecast. The window for action is closing and the people who can act need to know now.
Origin Node
The airport where GPI methodology was first reduced to operational practice and where the Historical Turn Minimum dataset originates. MCO is the origin node. All phase one data, formula validation, and threshold calibration traces back here.
Cluster Propagation
The mechanism by which compressed turn conditions at one airport translate into arrival pressure at the next airport in the aircraft's rotation chain. Traced by tail number, not flight number. The aircraft carries the delay regardless of what the schedule says.
Perfect Day Benchmark
The theoretical operational baseline where every turn at every gate is scheduled at or above the Historical Turn Minimum. Used in GPI v3 as the reference condition against which live operational pressure is measured and scored.

Research program

A multi-phase observational study conducted independently under AVTechLab. Phase one establishes the origin node validation at MCO. Each subsequent phase expands the empirical dataset and stress-tests the methodology in a new operational environment.

Florida Cluster
MCO · TPA · MIA
Phase One · Active
Northeast Cluster
BOS · JFK · LGA · EWR · PHL
Phase Two · Planned
California Cluster
LAX · SFO · SAN
Phase Three
Texas Cluster
DFW · DAL · IAH · HOU
Phase Three
Midwest Cluster
ORD · MDW · DTW
Phase Four
Working Paper · June 2026
Gate Pressure Index: Origin Validation Study — Regional Turn Time Performance and Downstream Capacity Impact
Phase one documents the HTM derivation methodology, GPI scoring formula, Threshold Window definition, and origin node validation at MCO. Data tables pending final observed dataset integration prior to formal submission.
Author Travis Marshall O'Connor
Institution AVTechLab Independent Research
Target Journal of Airport Management · Transportation Research Part C
Request Working Paper →
Patent Filing
63/869,997
Provisional application filed August 2025. Covers the computational method and algorithm. Technology-focused, not infrastructure-specific. Conversion deadline August 2026.
Recognition
Airport Technology Innovator Award
SmartAirports.org · February 2026
Appearances
Smart Airport Symposium 2026 · ACI-NA Airports@Work 2026 · ACI-NA Operations and Technical Affairs Committee

Operations consulting

The research program is matched by nearly 25 years of direct airport and air traffic operations experience. If your organization is working through a surface management problem, a technology evaluation, or an operations strategy question, that experience is available independently.

01
Surface and Ramp Operations Strategy
Gate capacity planning, turn time analysis, ramp control program design, and operational standards development. Built from direct ramp management experience at a top-ten U.S. airport across more than 40 airline partners.
02
Technology Evaluation and Integration
Independent assessment of surface management tools, decision support platforms, and data pipeline proposals. The question is always the same: does it actually work under real operational conditions, not in a demo.
03
Program Development and Research Design
Structuring operational research programs, building the analytical methodology behind surface capacity frameworks, and translating field observation into defensible research. From concept to publication-ready.

About

My background runs through U.S. Navy air traffic control, four years at Kabul International Airport under NATO ISAF, FAA control tower examiner credentials, and nearly 25 years of operations experience across five facilities. The research methodology comes from that operational background, not from a modeling lab.

AVTechLab is an independent research portfolio. It is not affiliated with any employer or organization. The GPI research program, the patent filing, and all published work are conducted and owned independently.

Role
Virtual Ramp Manager, MCO
Credentials
MBA · FAA CTOE · AAAE IACE · AAAE ASC · ACI USAP
Committees
ACI-NA BIT · Operations and Technical Affairs · Risk Management
Experience
25 years · 5 facilities · U.S. Navy · NATO · Commercial
Location
Melbourne, Florida