A Mixed Integer Linear Program for Airport Departure Scheduling

Abstract

A mixed integer linear program is presented for deterministically scheduling departure aircraft at runways. The method addresses different schemes of managing the departure queuing area by treating it as first-in-first-out queues or as a simple parking area, where any available aircraft can take-off irrespective of its relative sequence with others. The method explicitly considers separation criteria between successive departures and also incorporates an optional prioritization scheme using time windows. Multiple objectives pertaining to throughput, system delay and maximum individual delay are used. Results indicate minimizing system delay alone improves throughput over a basic first-come-first-serve rule. Modifications for computational efficiency are also presented in the form of re-formulating certain constraints and defining additional inequalities for better bounds.

Runway Scheduling Using Generalized Dynamic Programming

“…The authors in [4] [6] show how all separation constraints can be incorporated and how departure queue assignments are possible. While mixed integer linear programs have the advantage of easily modeling a large class of optimization problems, their computation times are often unsuitable for real-time applications [8] [10].…”

“…The runway scheduling problem can be formulated as a mixed integer linear program [4][5] [6]. The authors in [4] [6] show how all separation constraints can be incorporated and how departure queue assignments are possible.…”

“…The authors in [4][5] [6], for instance, formulate a runway scheduling problem as a mixed integer linear program. These solutions, however, show poor computational performance.…”

“…These solutions, however, show poor computational performance. Authors in [4][5] [6] [7][8] [9] attempt to solve the problem by considering only one objective (e.g. either delay or throughput) or explore heuristics that do not guarantee optimal aircraft runway schedules.…”

“…While there are several attempts at finding efficient aircraft runway schedules in the literature, these attempts are either not well-suited for application because of large computation times [4][5] [6], do not provide aircraft runway schedules which are optimal for both throughput and delay [4][5] [6] [7][8] [9], or solve simpler variants of a runway scheduling problem [10][8] [7]. The authors in [4][5] [6], for instance, formulate a runway scheduling problem as a mixed integer linear program.…”