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Flight Scheduling and Maintenance Base Planning

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas A. Feo

    (Operations Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712)

  • Jonathan F. Bard

    (Operations Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712)

Abstract

In an effort to control costs, airlines have begun to concentrate on their maintenance operations as a potential source for savings. Nevertheless, federal regulations and internal safety policies effectively limit cost savings to improvements in productivity and scheduling. The purpose of this paper is to present a model that can be used by planners to both locate maintenance stations and to develop flight schedules that better meet the cyclical demand for maintenance. The problem is formulated as a min-cost, multicommodity flow network with integral constraints, and solved using a two-phase heuristic. The procedure is demonstrated with data supplied by American Airlines for their Boeing 727 fleet. The results show a significant improvement over current techniques, and indicate that substantial cost reductions can be achieved by eliminating up to 5 of the 22 maintenance bases now in operation. Similar results were obtained for American's Super 80 and DC-10 fleets. Perturbation analysis confirms the robustness of these findings, and suggests that loss in flexibility due to interruptions in the flight schedule will be negligible.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas A. Feo & Jonathan F. Bard, 1989. "Flight Scheduling and Maintenance Base Planning," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1415-1432, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:35:y:1989:i:12:p:1415-1432
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.35.12.1415
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