Modeling passenger comfort in turboprop aircraft using objective measures

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A quantitative comfort model will aid in evaluating comfort levels of various target groups before the actual flight of an airplane. However, constructing the model is always a challenge due to the complexity of the phenomenon. OBJECTIVES: In this paper, we present quantitative comfort models to predict the (dis)comfort of passengers flying with turboprops based on objective measures. METHODS: Ninety-seven participants took part in two experiments conducted during real flights, during which forty of them had environmental and personal factors recorded using (self-developed) measurement tools. The collected data were analyzed to model the relations between objective measures and subjective feelings. RESULTS: Two preliminary models based on gradient boosting regression were developed. The models were able to predict the changes in comfort and discomfort of individual passengers with an accuracy of 0.12±0.01 and 0.21±0.01 regarding normalized comfort and discomfort scores, respectively. Additionally, contributions of different factors were highlighted. CONCLUSION: The outcomes of the models show that we took a step forward in modeling the human comfort experience using objective measurements. Anthropometry (including age), seat positions, time duration, and row (noise) emerged as leading factors influencing the feeling of (dis)comfort in turboprop planes.