Airline Scheduling

Plan

Optimization Process Overview

Scheduling

Revenue Management

Conclusion : Robustness

2
Context
l  The global airline industry consists of over 2000 airlines operating and more
than 23 000 commercial aircraft, providing service to over 3700 airports . The
world’s airlines flew more than 29 million scheduled flights and transported
over 2.5 billion passengers (IATA, 2010).

l  Since the economic deregulation of airlines, cost management and

productivity improvements has became central goals of airlines with the shift to
market competition.

l  The airline schedule affects almost every operational decision, and on average
75% of the overall costs of an airline are directly related to the schedule.
Given an airline schedule, a significant portion of costs and revenues is fixed

l  The management strategies and practices of airlines were fundamentally

changed by increased competition within the industry.

3
Context
l  The main principle of airline management is to match supply and demand for
its service in a way which is both efficient and profitable.

l  Airlines use numerous resources to provide transportation services for their
passengers. It’s the planning and efficient management of these
resources and sales that determine the survival or demise of an airline.

l  In practice, the objective of airline management is to maximize operating profit

(increase sales and/or decrease costs) by defining the optimal resource
scheduling and sale policy:

Sales

Investment Operations
cost cost
Benefit

4
Airline management system
l  To maximize the operating profit, the airline management system takes into
account various factors such as demands in various markets, available
resources, airport facilities and regulation for achieving optimal solutions

Airport operating Airport runway Airport charges Other regulations

hours length

Maintenance
requirement Airport
Facility constraints Passenger
behavior

Aircraft capacities connection time

Airline
Aircraft range Aircraft Demand
limitation Decision Competitor
Aircraft costs
System schedules

Passenger demand
Operational costs
Passenger Yield
Minimum turn time
Route Crew Managerial
characteristic availability constraint

5
Optimization process
l  Currently, all airlines decompose the overall management problem into
subproblems and solve them sequentially: sequential approach

l  Because of the reduced complexity generated by the decomposition, the

sequential approach allows to solve decision problem more easily by using
optimization algorithms.
6
Decomposition
l  The decomposition is usually structured according on two dimensions:
1.Time horizon ( Strategic, Tactical and Operations)
2. Subject ( Aircraft, Crew, Ground and Sales)

l  Various decomposition used in the airline industry.

Example of an optimization process

7
Decomposition
l  The subproblems which make up the overall airline decision system could be
solved sequentially according to the below design.

l  In some cases, the sequence of these decisions is reversed, in that the
identification of a profitable opportunity related to a subproblem might modify the
decision related to the previous subproblem ( iterating system).
8
Scope
l  We focus in this presentation on the following subproblems :

A.  Scheduling: B.  Revenue Management:

1.  Fleet assignment 3.  Crew pairing 5.  Optimization
2.  Maintenance routing 4.  Crew assignment 6.  Forecasting
9
Scheduling

10
Fleet assignment

11
Fleet assignment: Introduction
l  Given the fleet availability and flight schedule, the goal of fleet assignment is to
find the best assignment of fleet type to flight legs that maximize the
expected profit.
06h00 10h30
Airport A
Which Which
aircraft type ? aircraft type ?

07h30 08h30 09h00 10h100

Airport B
Which Which
aircraft type ? aircraft type ?

Input Output
1. Schedule: set of flight legs with given departure and Assignment of fleet type to each flight leg of
arrival times. the schedule with profit maximization
(expected revenue – operation cost) or cost
2. Fleet: aircraft owned by the company (number of aircraft
minimization including spill cost
by type).
3. Profit : associated to the assignment of a fleet type to
flight leg calculated throughout:
–  Cost: fuel….
–  Revenue:….

12
Fleet assignment: Introduction
Constraint
Coverage: each flight leg is assigned to exactly one fleet type.
Fleet availability : it limits the assigned aircraft of each fleet type to the number
available.
Balance: the total numbers of aircraft of each type arriving and departing
each airport are equal.
Additional restriction: technical restriction ( some aircrafts can’t cover some
flight legs…), ….

13
Fleet assignment: Time-space network
l  For modeling the fleet assignment problem, we represent at first the flight schedule as
time space network in order to facilitate the mathematical modeling of constraints.

Time-space network
Airport C

Airport B

Airport A

Schedule cycle time

(week, day..)

: Flight arc: represents a flight leg with departure and arrival location

: Arc’s origin node: represents a flight leg departure time

: Arc’s destination node: represents a flight leg arrival time including turn time.

: Ground arc: represents aircraft on the ground during the period spanned by the times
associated with the arc’s end nodes

: Count time : a point in time used specifically to count the number of aircraft needed to cover
the aircraft rotations in a solution
14
Fleet assignment: IT Development
l  Because of the size problem complexity, the program is usually developed with C++.

l  The program is mainly made up of three parts : loading data, optimization algorithm,
and report the fleet assignment.
Loading data Optimization Algorithm Report results
Initialization
Creating a
Reduced Master
Master model
Problem RMP

Fleet
availability Call solver library for solving RMP
Solver
(brunch and bound method)
Display the
fleet
Get the optimal assignment
Flight
schedule solution of RMP

Introduction to No
the best new CMP <=0
column
Restriction
Column generation
diagram Optima solution
found

15
Fleet assignment: Impact
l  Fleet assignment optimization, which has been applied widely in practice, is
attributed with generating solutions that lead to significant improvements in
operating profit:
-  USAir indicates annual savings of $15 million attributable to the use of a fleet
assignment optimizer.

-  Fleet Assignment solution at American Airlines have led to a 1.4% improvement in

operating margins.

16
Fleet assignment: Improvements / Future
l  Some airlines add other constraints to the fleet assignment model such as time
window that assumes departure time are not fixed and there is time window
during which flight may depart.

l  Other companies integrate further parameters such as passenger spill decision in
order to better estimate the spill costs ( Extended Fleet Assignment Problems)

l  In these above cases, the column generation method will be more useful to solve
the fleet assignment problem

17
Maintenance routing

18
Maintenance routing: Introduction
l  Given the fleet assignment solution, the objective of maintenance routing is to
identify the sequence of flight legs to be covered by the same aircraft within
each fleet that satisfy operational and physical constraint.

l  The sequence of flight legs has to ensure that the aircraft is able to receive the
required maintenance checks at the right time and at the right base.

Maintenance Maintenan
Airport base ce base Airport Airport
4 9 10

Hub1
Airport
6
Airport
11

Hub3 Airport Airport

Hub2 Maintenance
Airport
5 7 8 base

l  4 types of aircraft maintenance are required. The most frequent check is
required every 30 hours ( 2- 3 days). This check can be performed overnight or
during downtime during the flight day.
19
Maintenance routing: Introduction
Input
Flight schedule with fleet assignment: set of flight legs with given departure and
arrival times and fleet type assigned.

Routing generation

Routing evaluation

Solving optimization model

Output
For each fleet type, the best aircraft rotations that allows the aircrafts to undergo
periodic maintenance checks and satisfy other physical and operational constraints.
20
Maintenance routing: Introduction
Constraints
1. Flight coverage: each flight leg must be covered by only one aircraft.
2. Fleet availability
3. Feasible routing: The routing must incorporate the turn-around time. turn-
around time is the minimum time needed for an aircraft from the time it lands until
it is ready to depart again
4. Regular return (overnight) to the maintenance station has to be insured for each
routing in order to provide the maintenance opportunity at least once in 3 days.
5. Optional constraints:
1. favor closed cycle: when an aircraft starts from a city, and at the end of the
routing cycle, ends up at that same city to start another cycle.
2. Favor succession of flights with the same custom status ( Schengen to
Schengen ..)

21
Maintenance routing (1): Routing generation
l  At first, airlines should define its routing cycle. Many airlines set the routing cycle
to 2 or 3 days.

l  We begin by generating all possible valid aircraft routings that satisfy physical and
operational constraints routing:
–  The routing must incorporate the turn-around time. turn-around time is the minimum
time needed for an aircraft from the time it lands until it is ready to depart again.
–  the routing must include at least one overnight stay at maintenance base in order to
provide the first type of maintenance check.
Overnight
Day 1 day 1 Day 2 Overnight
day2

05h00 13h30 15h05 16h05 17h10 18h10 6h20 7h20 14h25 15h25 17h00 21h30
Routing 1 LAX JFK JFK ORD ORD JFK JFK JFK IAD IAD JFK JFK LAX LAX

06h15 07h45 09h00 12h00 13h10 15h40 09h10 12h00 13h10 15h40 17h00 18h30
Routing 2 JFK
BOS JFK JFK ATL ATL JFK JFK ATL ATL JFK JFK BOS BOS

22
Maintenance routing (1): Routing generation
l  Automated systems are used extensively to generate and filter all these
routes for the airlines in a relatively short time.

l  An overview of a methodology has been implanted for generating the rotations:

1 Creating all one day routing

2 Building routing by attaching one day routing

3 Examination of constraint satisfaction

4 Establishing a list of potential routing candidate

l  This generation could be enhanced by using constraint programming

techniques

23
Maintenance routing (2): Routing evaluation
l  The ultimate goal of the maintenance routing is to select the best flight legs
sequences that contribute in the maximization of the airline profit.

l  In practice, airlines evaluate routings by various ways according to the structure
adopted for the objective function of maintenance routing model :

Objective function

Maximizing
Maximizing through
Minimizing cost maintenance
values
opportunities

24
Maintenance routing (3): Optimization model
l  After generating feasible routings that satisfy maintenance requirement, we
should select from this list the optimal routings that satisfy the coverage flight
constraint and the fleet availability limit.

l  Optional constraint are usually taken into account in the objective function in
order to penalize some routings and/or favorite others.

l  The decision problem consists to chose routings from the long list of routing
built that :

-  Satisfy constraints of coverage flight and fleet availability

-  Minimize cost (or Maximizing through values ..)

25
Maintenance routing (3): Optimization model
l  The maintenance routing problem as presented, is based on the flight schedule
and the fleet availability. In reality , the flight schedule could be changed at the
last minute because of disruptions.

l  The robustness of the maintenance routing solution becomes an essential criteria
in order to keep the scheduling process feasible.

l  In addition to profit maximization, airlines could take into account robustness
criteria (proxy) in different ways to define the best routings

26
 Crew scheduling:
a.  Crew pairing b.  Crew assignment

27
Crew scheduling: Introduction
l  After the flight schedule is developed and fleet are assigned to cover all the flight
legs in the schedule, crew work schedules are started with the help of
optimization techniques.

l  Crew scheduling involves the process of identifying sequences of flight legs
and assigning both the cockpit ) and cabin crews to these sequences.

Time
Cockpit crews: charged with flying the aircraft

Cabin crews: responsible for in-flight passenger safety and service.

28
Crew scheduling: Introduction

Cockpit

Authorized for One fleet

type The crew scheduling
problem is solved
VS separately for the
Cabin
cockpit crew and
Able to work on
Different cabin crew
fleet type

Cockpit

Cockpit crew
size depends on fleet type
Scheduling trends to
VS be Individual for cabin
Cabin
crew and per team for
Number of cockpit crew
Cabin crew size
passengers
depends on
on board
29
Crew scheduling: Introduction
l  Because of the complex structure of work-rules and crew costs, the crew
scheduling problem is typically solved in a two-step process:

Crew Generation of mini-schedules, called pairings

Pairing typically spanning 1–5 days

Assembling pairings into longer crew schedules

Crew typically spanning about 30 days and assign it to
Assignment crew members

l  Crew pairing: the objective is to minimize the crew costs associated with
covering all flight legs in the flight schedule,

l  Crew assignment: The objective is mainly to assemble pairings into schedules
that maximize the satisfaction levels of crews.

30
Crew pairing: Introduction
l  A crew pairing is composed of a sequence of flight legs, with the flight legs
comprising a set of daily work activities, called duty, separated by overnight rest
periods.

l  The sequence of flight legs starts and ends at the same crew base(city in
which the crew actually lives). The sequence may typically span from 1 to 5
days.

l  The objective of crew pairing is to find a set of pairings that covers all flights
which:
-  satisfies various constraints such as union, government, and contractual regulations.
-  minimizes the total crew cost.

31
Crew pairing: Constraints

Constraints
Feasibility others
C.1 Flights in a pairing must be sequential in time and space; C.7 Flight covering
C.2 The elapsed time between the arrival of a flight leg and the departure of C.8 Fleet restriction
the subsequent flight leg in the pairing is bounded by a maximums and
a minimums threshold: for cockpit crew
a-connection time
b-rest time
C.3 Each duty should not exceed a maximum hours of flight time.
C.4 The maximum number of hours worked in a day.
C.5 The maximum time the crew may be away from their home base
C.6 Pairings starts and ends at crew base

Overnight
C2.a Rest
9h30 12h00 13h10 15h40 16h10 19h10 9h10 12h10 12h30 14h00 15h00 16hh30
JFK ATL ATL JFK JFK MIA C2.b MIA JFK JFK BOS BOS JFK

C6 C6
C1
Sign In : Sign out : C3
08h00 Duty Period 1 19h25 Sign In : Sign out :
08h10 Duty Period 2 16h40

C4 C5.Time Away From Base

32
Crew pairing: Costs

l  The crew costs structure can vary widely by airline, with significant differences
existing between airlines in different countries or regions.
Example of a pairing cost structure in Europe

Pairing cost

Maximum of

Minimum guaranteed Time away from base

Sum of duty cost
pairing pay cost
Duty cost= Max of

Total flying time cost

Total duty time cost

Minimum guaranteed
per day
33
Crew pairing: Optimization model

All possible feasible pairings are

generated based on rules and regulations.
Pairing generation
Generators are normally equipped with filters to
identify and select good potential pairings

Select the best pairings that cover all the flight

Pairing optimization
and minimize the total crew costs

34
Crew assignment: Introduction

l  Once the crew pairing problem is solved, the second phase is crew assignment.
It’s the process of assembling the pairings into longer schedule (usually on a
monthly basis) and assigning individual crew members to this schedule.

l  The schedule assigned take into account vacation time, training and rest.

l  The crew assignment problem is usually solved by using either bidline or
rostering approach:

Bidline Or Rostering
1. Generic schedules are built from pairing. 1. Specific schedules are constructed trying to
satisfy certain crew bids with priority based on
2. Crew members bid on theses schedules
seniority.
3. Assignment based on seniority

35
Crew scheduling: Impact
l  For large airlines, the improvement in solution quality related to crew scheduling
(pairing & assignment), translates to savings on the order of $50 million
annually.

l  Beyond the economic benefits, crew scheduling optimization tools can be used in
contract negotiations to quantify the effects of proposed changes in work rules
and compensation plans.

36
Scheduling: challenges & opportunities

Integrated schedule

Schedule design Fleet assignment Fleet assignment Maintenance routing

Fleet assignment Crew pairing Maintenance routing Crew pairing

Crew pairing Crew assignment Fleet Maintenance

Schedule design
assignment routing

Fleet Maintenance
Crew pairing
assignment routing

37
Airline Schedule Planning Process

Schedule Design"

Fleet Assignment"

Maintenance Routing"

Crew Scheduling"

l  Most existing planning models assume that aircraft, crew, and passengers will operate
as planned

38
Airlines Operations

l Many reasons can cause delays

– Severe weather conditions, unexpected aircraft and personnel
failures, congested traffic, etc.
l Delays may propagate through the network
l Long delays and cancellations cause schedule disruptions
l Airlines must reschedule aircraft/crew and re-accommodate
passengers
l Huge revenue loss:
– Delays cost consumers and airlines about $6.5 billion in 2000 (Air
Transport Association)

39
How to Deal With Schedule Disruptions?

l Two ways to deal with schedule disruptions

– Re-optimize schedule after disruptions occur (operation stage)
– Build robustness into the schedules (planning stage)
l A more robust plan can reduce the effect of disruptions
on the operations è reduce operation costs and improve
quality of service
l Robust airline schedule planning methods are needed

40
Definitions of Robustness

l Minimize cost
l Minimize aircraft/passenger/crew delays and disruptions
l Easy to recover (aircraft, crew, passengers)
l Isolate disruptions and reduce the downstream impact

41