Fleet Assignment

Introduction
 Fleet Diversity: Major air carriers operate various aircraft types to compete in markets
with different characteristics, such as demand and length of haul.

 Fleet Mix: As of Summer 2008, most major US carriers operate about ten different
fleets, with no single carrier operating one fleet type.

Fleet Assignment Problem

 Objective: The main goal is to match aircraft characteristics with flight requirements to
minimize total costs.

 Process: Determines the assignment of aircraft types to each flight in the schedule.

Key Characteristics for Fleet Assignment

1. Seat Capacity: Should match the expected passenger demand.

2. Flight Range: Distance between origin and destination must be within the aircraft's flight
range, limited by fuel capacity.

Additional Fleet Characteristics

 Fuel Consumption: Optimal travel distance for best fuel performance.

 Airport Compatibility: Large aircraft may face limitations at small airports due to runway
weight or gate configuration.

 Landing Fees: Airports charge different fees based on aircraft weight or capacity.

 Noise Levels: High noise level aircraft may face restrictions or curfews at certain airports.

 Maintenance Requirements: Fleet maintenance station location may influence flight

assignments.

Logical Constraints in Fleet Assignment

 Fleet Availability: Number of flights assigned to a fleet type should not exceed the
number of aircraft available.

 Continuity at Stations: Number of inbound flights assigned to a fleet type should equal
the number of outbound flights at any station.
Graphical Representation of the Fleet Assignment Problem
Inputs to the Fleet Assignment Problem

 Timetable of the Air Carrier: Represents the schedule of proposed flights.

 Flight Details: Each flight is defined by its origin, destination, and scheduled
departure time.

 Passenger and Cargo Demand: Expected demand for each flight is provided.

 Fleet Information: Includes the count of aircraft and their main characteristics.

Objective of the Fleet Assignment Problem

 Assignment of Aircraft Types: The main goal is to assign an appropriate aircraft type to
each flight in the schedule.

Graphical Representation

 Nodes and Edges: Flights are represented as nodes in a directed graph, with edges
indicating possible aircraft assignments.

 Feasible Paths: Construct feasible paths in the graph to determine the optimal
assignment of aircraft to flights.

 Cost Minimization: The objective is to minimize the total cost while satisfying constraints
such as aircraft availability and maintenance requirements.

Time-Staged Flight Network

Introduction to Time-Staged Flight Network

 Graphical Representation: Represents the air carrier timetable.

 Airports and Time: Airports are shown as vertical lines, and time is represented
vertically along each line.

 Flights: Each flight is depicted by a diagonal arc (arrow) connecting two airports,
indicating departure and arrival times.

Extended Time-Staged Flight Network

 Types of Arcs:

 Flight Arc: Represents the movement of an aircraft along a flight leg.

  Ground Arc: Represents the time at a station for activities like deplaning,
unloading, cleaning, refueling, boarding, and loading.

 Remaining Overnight (RON) Arc: Represents the aircraft staying overnight at a

station to operate an outbound flight the next day.

Flight Assignment at Stations

 Inbound and Outbound Flights: Each station has a set of inbound (arrivals) and
outbound (departures) flights with different characteristics.

 Aircraft Type Assignment: Flights are assigned to different aircraft types based on
expected demand and haul length.

 Continuity Condition: The number of inbound flights assigned to an aircraft type should
equal the number of outbound flights assigned to it, ensuring continuity at stations.

Example of Flight Assignment

 Graphical Representation: Inbound and outbound flights at an airport station are shown
with arrows representing different aircraft types.

 Aircraft Type Balance: For each aircraft type, the number of inbound flights equals the
number of outbound flights.
Interconnection Nodes
Definition and Components

 Interconnection Nodes: Classify movements of a particular aircraft type at a given

station.

 Aircraft Serving Arrivals: Aircraft arriving at the station.

 Aircraft Serving Departures: Aircraft departing before the next arrival.

 Grounded Aircraft: Aircraft on the ground before the first arrival and after the
last departure, including those that do not depart before the next arrival.

Continuity Condition

 Balance of Aircraft: Total number of aircraft into the node must equal the total number
of aircraft out from the node.

 Aircraft Into the Node: Includes flight arrivals and aircraft remaining from the
previous interconnection node.

 Aircraft Out from the Node: Includes aircraft serving departing flights and those
remaining on the ground for the next node.

Examples of Interconnection Nodes

 Node Representation: Nodes are denoted as node n and node n + 1.

 Arrivals and Departures: I[a, e, n] and O[a, e, n] represent arrivals and

departures of aircraft type e at airport a.

 Total Input and Output: IN[a, e, n] represents total aircraft input to node n, and
OUT[a, e, n] represents total output.

Last Interconnection Nodes of the Day

 Remaining Overnight (RON) Aircraft: Aircraft staying overnight at the station.

 Next Day Input: RON aircraft represent input to the first interconnection node of
the next day.
The Main Requirement of the Fleet Assignment Solution
Objective

 Goal: Assign aircraft types to flight legs to minimize costs or maximize profitability.

Decision Variable

 Definition: For each flight, a decision variable xfe is defined, representing the
assignment of aircraft type ee to flight leg ff.

Cost Function

 Components: The cost function cfe is the difference between the operating cost and the
revenue generated when aircraft type e is assigned to flight leg f.

 Operating Cost: Includes fleet type, fuel burn rate, trip length, landing fees, crew
cost, etc.

 Revenue: Depends on expected passenger demand, airfare, cargo demand, and

tariffs.

Objective Function

 Minimize Total Cost: The objective is to minimize the total cost for all flights in the
schedule.

 Mathematical Representation:
  Where:

 F = Set of flights in the schedule

 E[f]E[f] = Set of aircraft types that can operate flight leg f

Constraints

 Feasibility: Ensure that the assignment meets various constraints, such as:

 Aircraft Compatibility: Some aircraft types cannot operate certain flights due to
noise levels, runway requirements, or above-water flying restrictions.

 Logical Constraints: Number of flights assigned to a fleet type should not exceed
the number of available aircraft.

The following set of constraints needs to be verified for a feasible fleet

assignment solution.
1. Coverage Constraints: Ensure exactly one aircraft type is assigned to each flight leg in
the schedule.

2. Sizing Constraints: Ensure the total number of used aircraft of any type does not exceed
the total available aircraft of that type.

3. Continuity Constraints: Maintain continuity of aircraft types to guarantee that, at each

station, any arriving aircraft can leave on a valid departing flight.

4. Through-Flight Constraints: Ensure that inbound and outbound flights of a through flight
are of the same aircraft type.

5. Maintenance Constraints:

 Overnight Maintenance: Ensure a minimum number of aircraft remain overnight

at specified maintenance stations.

 Proportional Allocation: Specify the minimum and maximum number of aircraft

that may remain overnight at each maintenance station.

 Time-Window Constraints: Ensure aircraft remain at a maintenance station for a

minimum time period for special maintenance activities.

6. Crew Constraints:

 Minimum Flying Hours: Guarantee a minimum number of flying hours for the
crew.
  Crew Domicile: Ensure enough originating flights at each crew base to match
crew qualifications.

 Rest Period: Ensure crew arriving on an evening flight have a corresponding flight
the next morning after the required rest period.

In total, there are six main types of constraints with specific sub-constraints under maintenance
and crew constraints.

1. Coverage Constraints
 Objective: Ensure exactly one aircraft type is assigned to each flight leg in the schedule.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Decision Variable xfe: Equals 1 if aircraft type ee is assigned to flight leg ff,
otherwise 0.

2. Sizing Constraints
 Objective: Ensure the total number of used aircraft of any type does not exceed the total
available aircraft of that type.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Variables:

 pepe: Number of available aircraft of type ee.

 ACe: Set of flight, ground, and overnight arcs of aircraft type ee crossing
the designated counting time.
Example

 Counting Time: At 5:00 AM, the number of aircraft, ground, and remaining overnight
(RON) arcs crossing the designated counting time should be less than the available
number of aircraft of type ee.

Handling Infeasibility

 Variables:

 ue: Under-use of aircraft type ee.

 oe: Over-use of aircraft type ee.

 Objective Function: Includes a large penalty for over-use and a small benefit for under-
use to avoid infeasibility.

3. Continuity Constraints
Objective

 Maintain Continuity: Ensure that at each station, any arriving aircraft can leave on a
valid departing flight.

Continuity Condition

 Balance of Aircraft: For every node and each aircraft type, the total number of aircraft
into the node should equal the total number of aircraft out from the node.

 Aircraft Into the Node: Includes flight arrivals and aircraft remaining from the
previous interconnection node.

 Aircraft Out from the Node: Includes aircraft serving departing flights and those
remaining on the ground for the next node.

Example

 Node Representation: For node nn:

 Aircraft Into the Node: Flight arrivals (3) + Aircraft remaining from previous node
(2) = Total aircraft into the node (5).

 Aircraft Out from the Node: Departing flights (4) + Aircraft remaining on ground
for next node (1) = Total aircraft out from the node (5).

Mathematical Representation

 Continuity Constraints:
Where:

 NN = Set of interconnection nodes  A = set of airports

 E = set of aircraft types.
 EE = Set of aircraft types

4. Through-Flight Constraints
Definition

 Through Flight: An aircraft traveling from point A to point B with a stop at intermediate
station C to drop off and pick up passengers.

 Passenger Convenience: Passengers traveling from point A to point B do not

change aircraft at the intermediate station, avoiding gate connections.

Importance in Fleet Assignment

 Convenience: Air carriers schedule through flights to increase passenger convenience.

 Fleet Assignment Requirement: The fleet assignment solution must ensure that inbound
and outbound flights of a through flight are of the same aircraft type.

Example

 Hypothetical Schedule: If an air carrier plans for flights F1 and F2 to be a through flight
at a station, both flights must be assigned to the same equipment type.

Mathematical Representation

 Through-Flight Constraint:

If F1 and F2 are through flights, then e∈E[F1]∩E[F2]If F1 and F2 are through flights, then e∈E[F
1]∩E[F2]

 Ensures: Both flights F1 and F2 are assigned to the same aircraft type.

5. Maintenance Constraints
Objective

 Consider Maintenance Activities: Ensure the fleet assignment takes into account the
location and timing of maintenance activities.
Types of Maintenance Constraints

1. Overnight Maintenance

 Requirement: A minimum number meme of aircraft of fleet type ee must remain

overnight at specified maintenance stations.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Where:

 RON[e]RON[e]: Set of RON arcs for aircraft type ee at maintenance

stations.

2. Proportional Allocation

 Minimum and Maximum Limits: Specify the minimum and maximum number of
aircraft that may remain overnight at each maintenance station.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Where:

 RON[e,s]: Set of RON arcs for aircraft type ee at maintenance

station ss.

 lse: Minimum number of aircraft of type ee at station ss.

 use: Maximum number of aircraft of type ee at station ss.

3. Time-Window Constraints

 Minimum Time Period: Aircraft must remain at a maintenance station for a

minimum time period for special maintenance activities.
  Mathematical Representation:

 Where:

 W[e,s]: Set of time-window arcs for aircraft type ee at

maintenance station ss.

 Kse: Minimum number of aircraft of type ee required to remain at

station ss for a pre-specified time period.

Example

 Maintenance Facilities: If an air carrier locates its maintenance facilities at LAX and ORD,
the fleet assignment must ensure that the required number of aircraft remain overnight
at these stations.

6. Crew Constraints
Objective

 Consider Crew Requirements: Ensure the fleet assignment takes into account crew
locations, qualifications, and service conditions.

Types of Crew Constraints

1. Minimum Flying Hours

 Requirement: Guarantee a minimum number of flying hours for the crew, as

specified in their contracts.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Where:
  block timefe: Flight time of flight ff when operated by aircraft
type ee.

 Lce: Lower bound on flying hours for crew qualified for aircraft
type ee.

 Uce: Upper bound on flying hours for crew qualified for aircraft
type ee.

2. Crew Domicile

 Requirement: Ensure enough originating flights at each crew base to match crew
qualifications.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Where:

 aa: Crew domicile.

 AA: Set of crew domiciles.

 O[a]O[a]: Set of outbound flights from domicile aa.

 bfe: Minimum departures required for aircraft type ee at

station aa.

3. Rest Period

 Requirement: Ensure crew arriving on an evening flight have a corresponding

flight the next morning after the required rest period.

 Mathematical Representation:

 Where:

 t: Terminator flight arriving at night.

  J[t]: Set of flights originating the next morning after the required
rest period.

 xte: Assignment of aircraft type ee to terminator flight t.

Other Considerations

 Noise Levels: Avoid noisy fleets at certain airports.

 Curfews: Consider curfews on some fleets at certain airports.

 Runway and Gate Suitability: Ensure aircraft types are suitable for the runway and gate
configurations at airports.

 Cargo Traffic and Capacity: Take into account cargo traffic and capacity constraints.