The Air Traffic Controller Work-Shift Scheduling Problem in Spain from a Multiobjective Perspective: A Metaheuristic and Regular Expression-Based Approach

Tello, Faustino; Mateos, Alfonso; Jiménez-Martín, Antonio; Suárez, Adán

doi:10.1155/2018/4719178

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Many times a sector closes and at the same time two sectors related to the closed sector are opened. [29,31,32]), and adds these templates to the solution matrix. There are several templates that can be used, but we have chosen to apply the template displayed in Figure 3.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The proposal reported in Reference [31] addresses cores with two (en-route and approach) sector types and ATCs with different credentials. Adopting a multi-objective approach, one shift is optimized for a sectorization specified during the pre-tactical phase according to a set number of ATCs considering ATC work and break periods, ATC positions and workload, control center changes and solution structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unlike the problems considered previously [31,32], in this paper we focus on the tactical rather than the pre-tactical phase, at the time an incident arises. As said before, a specific sectorization has been established depending on the aircraft traffic for the considered day and the ATCs have been assigned to the open sectors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Variation of the ATC Work Shift Scheduling Problem to Deal with Incidents at Airport Control Centers

2020

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This paper deals with a variation of the air traffic controller (ATC) work shift scheduling problem focusing on the tactical phase, in which the plan for the day of operations can be modified according to real-time traffic demand or other possible incidents (one or more ATCs become sick and/or there is an increase in unplanned air traffic), which may lead to a new sectorization and a lower number of available ATCs. To deal with these issues, we must reassign the available ATCs to the new sectorization established at the time the incident happens, but also taking into account the work done by the ATCs up to that point. We propose a new methodology consisting of two phases. The goal of the first phase is to build an initial possibly infeasible solution, taking into account the sectors that have been closed or opened in the new sectorization, together with the ATCs available after the incident. In the second phase, we use simulated annealing (SA) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) metaheuristics to derive a feasible solution in which the available ATCs are used and all the ATC labor conditions are met. A weighted additive objective function is used in this phase to account for the feasibility of the solution but also for the number of changes in the control center at the time the incident happens and the similarity of the derived solution with templates usually used by the network manager operations center, a center managing the air traffic flows of an entire network of control centers. The methodology is illustrated by means of seven real instances provided by the Air Traffic Management Research, Development and Innovation Reference Center (CRIDA) experts representing possible incidents that may arise. The solutions derived by SA outperform those reached by VNS in terms of both the number of violated constraints in all seven instances, and solution compactability in six out the seven instances, and both are very similar with regard to the number of control center changes at the time of the incident. Although computation times for VNS are clearly better than for SA, CRIDA experts were satisfied with SA computation times. The solutions reached by SA were preferred.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Variation of the ATC Work Shift Scheduling Problem to Deal with Incidents at Airport Control Centers

2020

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“…Cores including two sector types (en-route and approach sectors) and accounting for ATCos with different operating credentials were considered in [10]. This proposal focuses on the optimization of only one shift in accordance with a previously specified number of ATCos to cover a specified airspace sector configuration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we consider the same multi-objective problem as [10], albeit using an adaptation of variable neighborhood search (VNS) rather than SA in the three-phase problem-solving methodology. Four representative and complex instances of the problem corresponding to different airspace sectorings provided by the Spanish ATM Research, Development and Innovation Reference Center (CRIDA) are now used to compare the performance of both metaheuristics in the three-phase problem-solving methodology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Analysis of Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search in the ATCo Work-Shift Scheduling Problem

Tello¹,

Jiménez-Martín²,

Mateos³

et al. 2019

Mathematics

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This paper deals with the air traffic controller (ATCo) work shift scheduling problem. This is a multi-objective optimization problem, as it involves identifying the best possible distribution of ATCo work and rest periods and positions, ATCo workload and control center changes in order to cover an airspace sector configuration, while, at the same time, complying with ATCo working conditions. We propose a three-phase problem-solving methodology based on the variable neighborhood search (VNS) to tackle this problem. The solution structure should resemble the previous template-based solution. Initial infeasible solutions are built using a template-based heuristic in Phase 1. Then, VNS is conducted in Phase 2 in order to arrive at a feasible solution. This constitutes the starting point of a new search process carried out in Phase 3 to derive an optimal solution based on a weighted sum fitness function. We analyzed the performance in the proposed methodology of VNS against simulated annealing, as well as the use of regular expressions compared with the implementation in the code to verify the feasibility of the analyzed solutions, taking into account four representative and complex instances of the problem corresponding to different airspace sectorings.

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APC E-Rostering System

Chureeganon,

Chunganuwat,

Pinprasert

et al. 2023

Sustainable Aviation

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The Air Traffic Controller Work-Shift Scheduling Problem in Spain from a Multiobjective Perspective: A Metaheuristic and Regular Expression-Based Approach

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

A Variation of the ATC Work Shift Scheduling Problem to Deal with Incidents at Airport Control Centers

A Variation of the ATC Work Shift Scheduling Problem to Deal with Incidents at Airport Control Centers

A Comparative Analysis of Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search in the ATCo Work-Shift Scheduling Problem

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