Flight scheduling

through operation
research
PROJECT ON OPERATION RESEARCH

PREPARED BY
KANIKA DHINGRA
MBA 4518/10
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We, the students of the Birla institute of technology, Noida, here by pay our
very sincere thanks for giving us the wonderful opportunity for doing a
project in our interest area as a part of our study.

We also thank, Ms Vandana Sharma who motivated us to undertake this

project. She suggested us many constructing and valuable modifications and
critiques and there after largely contributed in editing the final draft.

-KA
NIKA DHINGRA MBA 4518/10

2
 CONTENTS
S.NO. TOPIC PAGE
NO.
1. Introduction 4

2. Or Tools And Techniques 4,5

3. Applications Of Operations Research 6,7

4. Flight Scheduling Using Or Techniques 8

5. Planning Process Of The Airline Industry 9,10

6. Linear Programming 11

7. Queuing Theory 12,13

8. Simulation Model 13

9. Transportation And Assignment Model 14,15,16,

17
10 Network Scheduling 18,19

11 Bibliography 20

3
INTRODUCTION

Operations research (O.R.)

It is the discipline of applying advanced analytical methods to help make
better decisions.
By using techniques such as mathematical modeling to analyze complex
situations, operations research gives executives the power to make more
effective decisions and build more productive systems based on:
 More complete data
 Consideration of all available options
 Careful predictions of outcomes and estimates of risk
 The latest decision tools and techniques

O.R. Tools and Techniques

Operations Research uses any suitable tools or techniques available. The

common frequently used tools/techniques are mathematical procedures,
cost analysis, electronic computation. However, operations researchers given
special importance to the development and the use of techniques like linear
programming, game theory, decision theory, queuing theory, inventory
models and simulation. In addition to the above techniques, some other
common tools are non-linear programming, integer programming, dynamic

4
programming, sequencing theory, Markov process, network scheduling
(PERT/CPM), symbolic Model, information theory, and value theory. There is
many other Operations Research tools/techniques also exists. The brief
explanations of some of the above techniques/tools are as follows:

Linear Programming
This is a constrained optimization technique, which optimize some criterion
within some constraints. In Linear programming the objective function
(profit, loss or return on investment) and constraints are linear. There are
different methods available to solve linear programming.
Game Theory
This is used for making decisions under conflicting situations where there is
one or more
players/opponents. In this the motive of the players are dichotomized. The
success of one player tends to be at the cost of other players and hence they
are in conflict.
Decision Theory
Decision theory is concerned with making decisions under conditions of
complete certainty about the future outcomes and under conditions such
that we can make some probability about what will happen in future.
Queuing Theory
This is used in situations where the queue is formed (for example customers
waiting for service, aircrafts waiting for landing, jobs waiting for processing in
the computer system, etc). The objective here is minimizing the cost of
waiting without increasing the cost of servicing.
Inventory Models
Inventory model make a decisions that minimize total inventory cost. This
model successfully reduces the total cost of purchasing, carrying, and out of
stock inventory.
Simulation
Simulation is a procedure that studies a problem by creating a model of the
process involved in the problem and then through a series of organized trials
and error solutions attempt to determine the best solution. Some times this
is a difficult/time consuming procedure. Simulation is used when actual
experimentation is not feasible or solution of model is not possible.
Non-linear Programming
This is used when the objective function and the constraints are not linear in
nature. Linear relationships may be applied to approximate non-linear
constraints but limited to some range, because approximation becomes
poorer as the range is extended. Thus, the non-linear programming is used
to determine the approximation in which a solution lies and then the solution
is obtained using linear methods.
Dynamic Programming
Dynamic programming is a method of analyzing multistage decision
processes. In this each elementary decision depends on those preceding
decisions and as well as external factors.

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Integer Programming
If one or more variables of the problem take integral values only then
dynamic programming method is used. For example number or motor in an
organization, number of passenger in an aircraft, number of generators in a
power generating plant, etc.
Markov Process
Markov process permits to predict changes over time information about the
behavior of a system is known. This is used in decision making in situations
where the various states are defined. The probability from one state to
another state is known and depends on the current state and is independent
of how we have arrived at that particular state.
Network Scheduling
This technique is used extensively to plan, schedule, and monitor large
projects (for example computer system installation, R & D design,
construction, maintenance, etc.). The aim of this technique is minimize
trouble spots (such as delays, interruption, production bottlenecks, etc.) by
identifying the critical factors. The different activities and their relationships
of the entire project are represented diagrammatically with the help of
networks and arrows, which is used for identifying critical activities and path.
There are two main types of technique in network scheduling, they are:
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) – is used when activities
time is not known accurately/ only probabilistic estimate of time is available.
Critical Path Method (CPM) – is used when activities time is know accurately.
Information Theory
This analytical process is transferred from the electrical communication field
to O.R. field. The
objective of this theory is to evaluate the effectiveness of flow of information
with a given system. This is used mainly in communication networks but also
has indirect influence in simulating the examination of business
organizational structure with a view of enhancing flow of information.

Applications of Operations Research

Today, almost all fields of business and government utilizing the benefits of
Operations Research. There are voluminous of applications of Operations
Research. Although it is not feasible to cover all applications of O.R. in brief.
The following are the abbreviated set of typical operations research
applications to show how widely these techniques are used today:
Accounting
• Assigning audit teams effectively
• Credit policy analysis
• Cash flow planning

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 • Developing standard costs
• Establishing costs for byproducts
• Planning of delinquent account strategy
Construction
• Project scheduling, monitoring and control
• Determination of proper work force
• Deployment of work force
• Allocation of resources to projects
Facilities Planning
• Factory location and size decision
• Estimation of number of facilities required
• Hospital planning
• International logistic system design
• Transportation loading and unloading
• Warehouse location decision
Finance
• Building cash management models
• Allocating capital among various alternatives
• Building financial planning models
• Investment analysis
• Portfolio analysis
• Dividend policy making
Manufacturing
• Inventory control
• Marketing balance projection
• Production scheduling
• Production smoothing

Marketing
• Advertising budget allocation
• Product introduction timing
• Selection of Product mix
• Deciding most effective packaging alternative

Organizational Behavior / Human Resources

• Personnel planning
• Recruitment of employees
• Skill balancing
• Training program scheduling

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 • Designing organizational structure more effectively
Purchasing
• Optimal buying
• Optimal reordering
• Materials transfer
Research and Development
• R & D Projects control
• R & D Budget allocation
• Planning of Product introduction

FLIGHT SCHEDULING USING OR TECHNIQUES.

The airline schedule planning problem is defined as the sequence of

decisions that need to be made to make a flight schedule operational. Given
the high level of competition in the airline industry, effective decision making
is crucial to the profitability of an airline.
Constructing good quality fleet schedules is essential for an airline to operate
in an effective and efficient way in order to accomplish high levels of
consumer satisfaction and to maximize profits. The robustness of an airline
schedule is an indicative measure of how good the schedule is because a
robust plan allows the airline to cope with the unexpected disturbances
which normally occur on a daily basis.

8
A model for airline flight scheduling, for example, might include variables for
the cities to be connected, amount of fuel required to fly the routes,
projected levels of passenger demand, varying ticket and fuel prices, pilot
scheduling, and maintenance costs. The analyst then chooses the values for
these variables, enters them into a computer which he or she has already
programmed to make the calculations required, and runs the program to
produce the best flight schedule consistent with various sets of assumptions.

At this point, the operations research analyst presents the final work to
management along with recommendations based on the results of the
analysis. Additional computer runs based on different assumptions may be
needed to help in making the final decision between various options. Once a
decision has been reached, the analyst works with others in the organization
to ensure the plan's successful implementation.

Planning Process of the Airline Industry

Aircraft and crew schedule planning involves designing future aircraft and
crew schedules
to maximize airline profitability . For major airlines, the unmanageable size
and complexity of the problem has resulted in the decomposition of the
overall problem into a set of sub problems that are often solved sequentially
as:-
Sequential planning process of the airline industry.
 Schedule Design

9
  Fleet Assignment Problem
 Aircraft Maintenance Routing Problem
 Crew Management
 Crew scheduling problem
 Crew assignment problem

For these airlines, each problem of the planning process is often assigned to
different departments, which contributes to the standard practice of solving
them sequentially. These problems are defined as follows :
Definition 1.1: Schedule Design Problem (SDP)
SDP is the problem of defining which markets to serve and with what
frequency, and deciding how to schedule flights to meet these frequencies.
Its product is the flight schedule or flight itinerary that specifies the flight
legs1 to be flown and the departure time of each flight leg. �

Figure 1.2. Example of a partial flight itinerary.

Flight Origin Departure Destination Arrival Days
102 TLC 6:30 am MTY 8:30 am 123456
304 MTY 9:30 am TLC 11:05 am 12345_
221 MTY 1:25 pm TLC 2:40 pm _____7

Fleet Assignment Problem (FAP)

FAP specifies what type of aircraft to assign to each flight leg by finding the
cost minimizing
assignment of aircraft types to legs in the flight network. Its product is the
flight subnetwork to be flown by each fleet.

Aircraft Maintenance Routing Problem (AMRP)

AMRP determines how to route aircraft to ensure satisfaction of maintenance
requirements,
by the assignment of individual aircraft to flight legs in a subnetwork. Its
product consists of
schedules called routings or rotations for each aircraft in a fleet. �

Routing
A routing is a sequence of legs; where the destination of a given leg is the
same as the
origin of the next leg in the sequence. In this work it will be referred just as a
sequence. �

Route
A route (or rotation) is a sequence that starts and ends at the same location.
�
Crew Scheduling Problem (CSP)

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CSP selects which crews to assign to each flight to minimize crew costs. It is
typically
broken into two sequentially solved sub problems: the crew pairing problem
that generates
minimum-cost feasible pairings (multiple-day work schedules satisfying the
work-rule restrictions),and the crew assignment problem that combines
these pairings into balanced and
efficient rosters (month-long crew schedules).

11
Several techniques used in flight scheduling they are:-

1. Linear programming
n
Maximize Σ cj xj
j=1
n
subject to: Σ aij xj ≤ bi , for i = 1, 2, …, m
j=1
xj ≥ 0 , for j = 1, 2, …, n

Suppose that now we wish to investigate how to handle

Minimization problems:
n
Minimize z = Σ cjxj
j=1
Reformulate as:
n
Maximize –z = –Σ cjxj
j=1
Airline Scheduling Problem (ASP-1)
A small airline would like to use mathematical programming to schedule its
flights to maximize profit.
Problem # 1 ASP-1 Formulation
1) Write a mathematical programming formulation to solve the ASP-1
Problem with the following constraints:
Maximize Profit
Subject to:
• Aircraft availability constraint
• demand fulfillment constraint
• Minimum frequency constraint

Solve problem ASP-1 under the following numerical assumptions:

a) Maximize profit solving for the fleet size and frequency assignment
without a minimum frequency constraint. Find the number of aircraft of each
type and the number of flights between each origin-destination pair to satisfy
the two basic constraints (demand and supply constraints).

b)Suppose the demand function varies according to the number of flights

scheduled between city pairs Reformulate the problem and explain (do not
solve) the best way to reach an optimal solution.

2. Queuing theory

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Characteristics of a queuing system:
We take a look at the three part of a queuing system (1) the arrival or inputs
to the system (sometimes referred to as the calling population),
(2) the queue* or the waiting line itself, and
(3) the service facility.
These three components have certain characteristics that must be examined
before mathematical queuing models can be developed.

Arrival Characteristics
The input source that generates arrivals or passengers for the service
system has three major characteristics. It is important to consider the size of
the calling population, the pattern of arrivals at the queuing system, and the
behavior of the arrivals.
Size of the Calling Population : Population sizes are considered to be
either unlimited (essentially infinite) or limited (finite).When the number of
passengers or arrivals on hand at any given moment is just a small portion of
potential arrivals, the calling population is considered unlimited. For practical
purpose, in our examples the unlimited passengers arriving to check-in for
traveler at airport (an independent relationship between the length of the
queue and the arrival rate moreover the arrival rate of passengers lower).
Most queuing models assume such an infinite calling population. When this is
not the case, modelling becomes much more complex. An example of a finite
population is a shop with only eight machines that might break down and
require service.
Pattern of arrivals at the System: Passengers either arrive at a service
facility according to some known schedule or else they arrive randomly.
Arrivals are considered random when they are independent of one another
and their occurrence cannot be predicted exactly. Frequently in queuing
problems, the number of arrivals per unit of time can be estimated by a
probability distribution known as the Poisson distribution .For any given
arrival rate, such as two passengers per hour, or four airplanes per minute ,
a discrete Poisson distribution can be established by using the formula

for k =0 ,1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,….

Behavior of the Arrival : Most queuing models assume that an arriving

passenger is a patient traveler .Patient customer is people or machines that
wait in the queue until they are served and do not switch between lines.
Unfortunately, life and quantitative analysis are complicated by the fact that
people have been known to balk or renege .Balking refers to passengers who
refuse to join the waiting lines because it is to suit their needs or interests.
Reneging passengers are those who enter the queue but then become

13
impatient and leave the need for queuing theory and waiting line analysis.
How many times have you seen a shopper? with a basket full of groceries,
including perishables such as milk, frozen food, or meats, simply abandon
the shopping cart before checking out because the line was too long? This
expensive occurrence for the store makes managers acutely aware of the
importance of service-level decisions.
Waiting Line Characteristics
The waiting line itself is the second component of a queuing system. The
length of a line can be either limited or unlimited. A queue is limited when it
cannot, by law of physical restrictions, increase to an infinite length. Analytic
queuing models are treated in this article under an assumption of unlimited
queue length. A queue is unlimited when its size is unrestricted, as in the
case of the tollbooth serving arriving automobiles.
A second waiting line characteristic deals with queue discipline. This refers to
the rule by which passengers in the line are to receive service. Most systems
use a queue discipline known as the first-in, first-out rule (FIFO)¤.This is
obviously not appropriate in all service systems, especially those dealing
with emergencies. In most large companies, when computer-produced pay
checks are due out on a specific date, the payroll program has highest
priority over other runs.

Service Facility Characteristics

The third part of any queuing system is the service facility. It is important to
examine two basic properties :(1)the configuration of the service system and
(2)the pattern of service times.
Basic Queuing System Configurations: Service systems are usually
classified in terms of their number of channels, or number of servers, and
number of phases, or number of service stops, that must be made.

3. Simulation model

A simulation-based optimization model is used for scheduling the periodic

maintenance of a fleet of aircraft. The efficiency of a schedule is considered
in terms of average aircraft availability and it is evaluated through discrete
event simulation describing aircraft usage and maintenance. The simulation
optimization model is intended as a decision aid for maintenance designers.
An example scheduling case demonstrates that the model is capable of
producing efficient maintenance schedules. The challenge for the
maintenance designers is to schedule the maintenance operations so that
sufficiently many aircraft are available for flight duty at any given time. The
scheduling effort is an expert-driven task that generally requires very
detailed knowledge about the maintenance system.
The potential benefit of the simulation-optimization model is the reduction in
the amount of work by the maintenance designers that is needed in
generating efficient maintenance schedules or updating the existing ones.

14
The model can be used as an automated design tool as that can be initiated
with a randomly generated set of candidate solutions. Moreover, the
utilization of discrete-event simulation helps maintenance designers to
consider the uncertainties that are involved in executing a given
maintenance schedule, as the simulation model provides the designers with
information on variance of the resulting values of aircraft availability.

4. Transportation and assignment model

Airline yield management
This model is a tool for O&D-based airline yield management. The model is
formulated as a deterministic linear program.
The model requires a set of flight legs, a maximally acceptable waiting time
between connecting flights, and a set of itineraries. The model includes
an assert statement to ensure that each itinerary is feasible with respect to a
minimal connection time for passengers.
Industry Transportation

Techniq Linear
ue Programming

Complex Intermediate
ity

Air traffic flow management

In order to avoid congestion in critical air sectors, the takeoff of flights is
delayed. The objective of this scheduling problem is to minimize the total
sum of flight delays.
Industry Transportat
ion

15
Techniq CP
ue Scheduling

Complex Advanced
ity

Call route
This model is used to construct a route from a set of end-to-end paths so
that the collection of paths satisfies the blocking criterion, and at a minimum
cost. This extends the two-arc path optimization algorithm in chapter 4
of Dynamic Routing in Telecommunications Networks by Gerald R. Ash
(McGraw Hill).
This is a dynamic programming model with two specialized constraints:

• All paths are different

• Blocking criterion

The all different constraint is implemented explicitly to allow duplicates of a

dummy value at the end of the sequence. (Alternately, a distribute constraint
can be used, but the propagation will be worse.) Pseudo random cost and
blocking data are generated within the model.
Industry Transportation

Techniq Constraint
ue Programming

Complex Intermediate
ity

16
Crew scheduling
This model considers an airline crew scheduling problem. The solution
strategy uses constraint programming as a sub problem algorithm for linear
programming column generation. Each column represents the pairing of a
potential set of flights to be flown by a crew. Thus, the master problem must
find a set of pairings that covers every flight at a minimum cost. This is a
particular kind of set covering problem.
The overall algorithm is controlled by a main block in CrewScheduling.mod.
The script starts by generating an initial set of pairings. Then, the problem
alternates between solving the Linear Programming relaxation of the set
covering problem and solving a pairing generation problem that produces
new columns for the master problem. Once the columns are satisfactory, the
columns are fixed and the set covering problem is solved to find the integer
optimal solution. Finally, the script prints the pairing used for each crew.
The constraint programming subproblem is of particular interest. A crew
pairing is defined as a set of flights that starts and ends at a crew base and
that satisfy a set of schedule constraints. We use constraint programming to
enumerate potential crew pairings. In the initialization stage, we enumerate
a set of pairings that are guaranteed to cover every flight. In the column
generation phase, we use the constraint program twice. First, we determine
the optimal crew pairing with respect to the current set of dual multipliers.
Once we know this, we search for all pairings that have reduced cost of at
least half of the optimal pairing. This gives us a large set of entering columns
and eliminates one of the major weaknesses of column generation: the large
number of iterations needed to improve the objective value in the master
problem.
The data were converted from the flight schedules of a regional airline.
Industry Transportation

Techniq Integer Programming, Constraint Programming, Search,

ue Decomposition

Complex Advanced
ity

17
Fleet assignment
The fleet assignment problem consists of assigning aircraft (fleets) to flights
in order to maximize net profit. Given a flight schedule, which is a set of
flight segments with specified departure and arrival times, and a set of
aircraft, the fleet assignment model determines which aircraft or fleet type
should fly each flight segment. The fleet type is a particular class of aircraft
defined by:

• the seating capacity

• the fuel consumption
• other factors that can affect revenues and costs

The objective is to maximize revenue minus operating costs.

• The revenue is a function of the demand for the segment, the cost of
tickets and the seating capacity of the plane.
• Operating costs depend on the size and efficiency of the plane and on
the length of the segment.

Opportunity (spill) costs include losing spilled (bumped) passengers due to

excess demand. These costs are a function of both the demand for a flight
and the aircraft capacity.
The constraints on the assignment model:

• There must be a plane at the airport for the flight.

• One-stop flights must have both legs assigned to the same fleet.
• Each airport must begin and end the week with the same distribution
of planes..

Industry Transportation

Techniq Integer
ue Programming

Complex Intermediate
ity

18
Network flows
The purpose of this model is to solve a standard minimum-cost network-flow
problem with a single commodity.
Industry Transportation

Technique Linear Programming

Complexity Basic

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6.Network scheduling

Network planning is a crucial area since it involves creating the "product" an

airline has to offer, the routes and aircraft types used on these routes. In
Flight Scheduling flight service schedules and timetables are created on a
seasonal basis, including crew and fleet planning.
Its objective

• Increasing Revenue

• Develop new markets

• Improve capacity utilization

• Provide competitive service offerings

Analyzing route feasibility and planning. Determining fleet configuration

requirements and flight & cabin crew requirements. Specifying resource and
service requirements. Developing the route network.

With the help of network scheduling we can handle following

problems:-

1.Integrated single-fleet Aircraft and Crew Scheduling Problem

(IACSP)
Given a flight schedule for a given fixed planning horizon, the IACSP is the
problem of

20
finding a minimum cost schedule for aircraft and crews, such that both the
aircraft and the crew
Schedules are feasible and mutually compatible. It is assumed that:
1) The flight schedule4 is fixed and known.
2) An aircraft schedule is feasible if each flight leg is assigned to one single
aircraft, and each aircraft performs a feasible sequence or strings of legs.
Each sequence begins and ends at the same place and satisfies the safety
and governmental maintenance requirements. Besides, all of its legs in the
sequence must be feasible to be performed by an aircraft.
3) All legs in the flight schedule are assigned to crew members. Legs assigned
to the same crew member in a day define a crew duty. The set of consecutive
crew duties, without long resting time between them, constitutes a pairing.
That is, a pairing is a work schedule that may span from one day to few days
long. A set of feasible pairings covering all legs form a crew schedule.
4) A pairing is feasible if it constitutes an ordered sequence of flight legs
assigned to the same crew and that satisfies the work-rule constraints.
4 Sometimes referred as timetable or itinerary.
5) A crew schedule is feasible if each leg is assigned to one pairing, and if
each pairing is a sequence of legs that can be assigned to a single crew, both
form physical and a legal point of view.
6) Objective functions (profit or cost functions) for both aircraft and crew
scheduling problems are usually a combination of variable and fixed costs.
Aircraft variable costs are usually a function of travel and idle time. Crew
variable costs depend on overtime payment, expenses out of base and
overnight costs . Fixed aircraft costs can be included by adding the cost for
using an aircraft (or pairing) to the arcs linking to the base.
7) The objective function of the simultaneous problem is to minimize
(maximize) the sum of both aircraft and crew scheduling cost (profit)
functions.
8) The number of aircrafts required to cover the legs can not exceed the fleet
size.
9) There is one maintenance station which is the same crew home. It is called
the base.
10) Crew rules are related to single and multiple duties spanning up to a
week.
11) Crew can not be assigned to a short deadhead5 unless the flights share an
aircraft in the routing solution.
When solving these problems, feasibility conditions enforce to cover all legs of
the timetable given. However this flight schedule is in practice typically
designed manually, with limited optimization such as incremental
improvements for a given flight schedule. In addition,
some airlines with more than one fleet, assign fleets to cover certain
destinations, even before the itinerary is designed. This assignment
constitutes more a long-term policy whereas the itinerary design is an
operational issue that can change several times a year.
In this thesis we follow a different approach: The timetable is taken as the

21
schedule of a large number of potential flight legs to be flown by a single
fleet. When solving the aircraft routing
problem, the final itinerary to be covered by the fleet will be in fact defined by
the legs included in the routing solutions. This is the itinerary that will be
covered by the crews.

2.Integrated single-fleet Network design, Aircraft routing and Crew

Scheduling Problem INACSP.
Given a potential flight schedule to be flown by a single fleet, for a given fixed
planning horizon, INACSP is the problem of finding a minimum cost schedule
for aircraft and crews, such that both the aircraft and the crew schedules are
feasible and mutually compatible. It is assumed
that:
12) The potential flight schedule is fixed and known.
13) An aircraft schedule is feasible if each leg is assigned to at most one
single aircraft, and each aircraft performs a feasible sequence of legs. Each
sequence begins and ends at the same place and satisfies the safety and
governmental maintenance requirements. Besides, all legs in a sequence
must be feasible to be performed by an aircraft. 5 or short connection, which
is a deadhead lasting less than a minimum connection time, also called min
sit.
14) All legs included in the routing solution are assigned to crew members.
Legs assigned to the same crew member in a day define a crew duty. The set
of consecutive crew duties, without long resting time between them,
constitutes a pairing. That is, a pairing is a work schedule that may span from
one day to few days long. A set of feasible pairings covering all legs form a
crew schedule.
15) A crew schedule is feasible if each leg in the routing solution is assigned
to one pairing, and if each pairing is a sequence of legs that can be assigned
to a single crew, both form physical and a legal point of view.
16) Conditions 4) and 6) through 11).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Minimizing Airline Passenger Delay through Integrated

dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/29401/56132667.pdf?sequence...

2. books.google.co.in/books?isbn=1602393206...

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3. mansci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/35/12/1415.

4. Operations research in the airline industry - Google Books.

5. Operation research by S.D Sharma.

6. Optimization techniques by Dr. A.K Garg.

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