[NEW FINDINGS AND RESEARCH]

Project Runway Tarmac rule increases delays.

>>> A rule designed to decrease the amount of time air passengers spend waiting on tarmacs has led to an unintended consequence: an increase in flight cancellations. “There is no surprise that sometimes when you try to do something good you have these negative effects,” says Vikrant Vaze, assistant professor of engineering and coauthor of a peer-reviewed study funded by the research wing of the Federal Aviation Administration. Vaze notes that while the rule “effectively decreases tarmac delays,” overall passenger delay times have risen as airlines are now more likely to cancel flights to avoid heavy fines imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Using an algorithm to analyze passenger delay data from before and after the 2010 rule went into effect, the study concludes that the rule should be modified to allow for a slightly longer tarmac time limit and that it should apply only to flights departing before 5 p.m., when there are more options to rebook a cancelled flight.

Debt Inequity Student loan burden varies by race.

>>> Black young adults carry, on average, 68.2 percent more student loan debt—and receive significantly less financial support from parents—than white young adults, according to a new study coauthored by Jason Houle, assistant professor of sociology. The research, published in Race and Social Problems, used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 to examine disparities in family wealth, college selection and the effect of student loan debt on young adults. Houle and his coauthors argue that higher levels of student loan debt may compound existing racial disparities by negatively impacting college completion rates and overall quality of life for black young adults. “In a society where a college degree is increasingly necessary to enter the middle class, and yet college costs have risen dramatically, black students take on a great deal more risk and seem to experience fewer rewards than whites,” says Houle.