Discriminant analysis of distributional data via fractional programming

We address classification of distributional data, where units are described by histogram or interval-valued variables. The proposed approach uses a linear discriminant function where distributions or intervals are represented by quantile functions, under specific assumptions. This discriminant function allows defining a score for each unit, in the form of a quantile function, which is used to classify the units in two a priori groups, using the Mallows distance. There is a diversity of application areas for the proposed linear discriminant method. In this work we classify the airline companies operating in NY airports based on air time and arrival/departure delays, using a full year flights.