Fleet Assignment
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.
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.
2. Flight Range: Distance between origin and destination must be within the aircraft's flight
range, limited by fuel capacity.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Types of Arcs:
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.
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
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.
Total Input and Output: IN[a, e, n] represents total aircraft input to node n, and
OUT[a, e, n] represents total output.
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.
Objective Function
Minimize Total Cost: The objective is to minimize the total cost for all flights in the
schedule.
Mathematical Representation:
Where:
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.
2. Sizing Constraints: Ensure the total number of used aircraft of any type does not exceed
the total available aircraft of that type.
4. Through-Flight Constraints: Ensure that inbound and outbound flights of a through flight
are of the same aircraft type.
5. Maintenance Constraints:
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:
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:
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
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:
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.
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
Mathematical Representation:
Where:
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:
3. Time-Window Constraints
Where:
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.
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:
3. Rest Period
Mathematical Representation:
Where:
Other Considerations
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.