Purpose In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for evaluating airworthiness factors were presented. The purpose of this study is to develop an acceptable rationale for operational activities in civil and military aviation and for design, production and maintenance activities in the aviation industry that can be used in-flight safety programs and evaluations. Design/methodology/approach In aviation, while the initial and continuing airworthiness of aircraft is related to technical airworthiness, identifying and minimizing risks for avoiding losses and damages are related to operational airworthiness. Thus, the airworthiness factors in civil and military aviation were evaluated under these two categories as the technical and operational airworthiness factors by the analytic hierarchy process and analytic network process. Three technical and five operational airworthiness criteria for civil aviation, three technical and nine operational airworthiness criteria for military aviation were defined, evaluated, prioritized and compared in terms of flight safety. Findings The most important technical factor is the “airworthiness status of the aircraft” both in civil (81.9%) and military (77.6%) aviation, which means that aircraft should initially be designed for safety. The most significant operational factors are the “air traffic control system” in civil (30.9%) and “threat” in the military (26.6%) aviation. The differences within factor weights may stem from the design requirements and acceptable safety levels (frequency of occurrences 1 in 107 in military and 1 in 109 in civil aircraft design) of civil and military aircraft with the mission achievement requirements in civil and military aviation operations. The damage acceptance criteria for civil and military aircraft are different. The operation risks are accepted in the military and acceptance of specific tasks and the risk levels can vary with aircraft purpose and type. Practical implications This study provides an acceptable rationale for safety programs and evaluations in aviation activities. The results of this study can be used in real-world airworthiness applications and safety management by the aviation industry and furthermore, critical factor weights should be considered both in civil and military aviation operations and flights. The safety levels of airlines with respect to our airworthiness factor weights or the safety level of military operations can be computed. Originality/value This is the first study considering technical and operational airworthiness factors as an MCDM problem. Originality and value of this paper are defining critical airworthiness factors for civil and military aviation, ranking these factors, revealing the most important ones and using MCDM methods for the evaluations of airworthiness factors for the first time. In civil aviation flight safety is the basic tenet of airworthiness activities in risk analysis, on the other hand in military aviation high levels of risks are to be avoided in peace training or operational tasks. However, even high risks have to be accepted during the war, if the operational requirements impose, as mission achievement is vital. The paper is one of a kind on airworthiness evaluations for flight safety.

The flight deck is the ultimate human-machine interface application. It uses human senses of touch and sight in a safety-critical situation. Display systems, present on a flight deck, are complex environments causing excessive mental workload, and the consequences of errors can be catastrophic. To prevent any human error, a user-friendly display panel must be designed. In this research the best natural dialog between the crew and interface is considered while reflecting user perspective to design by applying quantitative and qualitative approaches; in this way, proper positions of analogue indicators on the front of the display panel are determined. Multi-Criteria Decision Making algorithms are employed as a quantitative approach. To test whether the decision-making preferences are consistent with a quasi-concave, a quasi-convex, and a linear utility function, a combined algorithm is applied. Due to the form of utility function, an algorithm finding the most preferred alternative of decision making is used. The aim of this approach is to find an order in which to locate each indicator to suitable classes. Card-Sorting methodology is used for the qualitative research of the same problem. Results of two different approaches are compared. C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Malzeme yönetimi sanatı; lojistik işletmelerin etkinlik ve verimliliğinde önemli bir rol oynar. En etkili lojistik faktörleri belirlemek çok önemlidir; çünkü lojistik maliyetler toplam işletme maliyetinin %30'una tekabül etmektedir. Bu çalışmada lojistik firmaların başarısını etkileyen maliyet, hız, güvenilirlik, müşteri memnuniyeti, dağıtım kanalı, firma imajı, çevre dostu olma ve teknolojik yeniliklere açık olma gibi faktörler incelenmiş ve sıralanmıştır. Faktörleri sıralamak için Pisagor Bulanık (PF) kümeleri, üçgensel bulanık sayılar ve Analitik Hiyerarşi Prosesi (AHP) temelinde üç farklı yaklaşım önerilmiştir. Literatüre yeni girmesine rağmen, Pisagor bulanık kümeleri belirsizlik hesaplamasında yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır. AHP, F-AHP ve PF-AHP yöntemleri uygulanarak en etkili üç lojistik faktörü maliyet, hız ve güvenilirlik olarak belirlenmiştir, ancak faktör ağırlıkları farklıdır. AHP, F-AHP ve PF-AHP sonuçları arasındaki farklılıkların değerlendirmelerin kesin değerlerle yapılması, dilsel ifadelerin kullanılması ya da üyelik derecesi koşulunun sağlanıp sağlanamamasından kaynaklandığını düşünmekteyiz. Bunun yanında Türkiye'deki ilk 10 lojistik firma bu kriterlere göre puanlanarak sıralanmıştır. Lojistik firmaların faktörlere göre yapılan sıralarının ekonomik büyüklüklerinden farklı olduğu görülmüştür.