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The purpose of flight to check-in counter assignments is to assign each flight to specific check-in counters where the airline will provide passenger check-in services. The number of common use check-in counters required for daily operations is an important issue closely related to the airport's level of service and system performance. In this study, a new network model is developed for the optimization of common use check-in counter assignments. The goal is to minimize the number of counters required for daily operations. Numerical tests are performed on data for a major Taiwan airport. The obtained results show that the model performs well. Journal of the Operational Research Society (2010) 61, 1607-1618. doi: 10.1057/jors.2009.126 Published online 28 October 2009 Keywords: networks and graphs; optimization; air transport; common use check-in counters; minimum number of counters; assignments

Bus scheduling is essential to a carrier's profitability, its level of service and its competitiveness in the market. In past research most inter-city bus scheduling models have used only the projected (or average) market share and market demand, meaning that the variations in daily passenger demand that occur in actual operations are neglected. In this research, however, we do not utilize a fixed market share and market demand. Instead, passenger choice behaviors and uncertain market demands are considered. Stochastic and robust optimizations and a passenger choice model are used to develop the models. These models are formulated as a nonlinear integer program that is characterized as NP-hard. We also develop a solution algorithm to efficiently solve the models. They are tested using data from a major Taiwan inter-city bus operation. The results show the good performance of the models and the solution algorithm. Keywords: Scheduling; Inter-city bus; Variable market share; Uncertain market demands; Stochastic programming; Robust optimization, 1. Introduction Bus scheduling is a critical activity in inter-city bus operations and is essential to a carrier's profitability, its level of service and its competitiveness in the market. There [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2007.05.053 Byline: Shangyao Yan (a), Ching-Hui Tang (b), Tseng-Chih Fu (a) Keywords: Transportation; Routing; Scheduling; Stochastic programming; Heuristic algorithm Abstract: When setting a good flight schedule airlines not only have to consider their fleet supply and related operations, as well as market share, but also stochastic variations caused by daily passenger demands in actual operations. Most of the past research on short-term flight scheduling has used the average passenger demand as input to produce the final timetable and schedule, which means that daily passenger variations that occur in actual operations are neglected. To consider such stochastic disturbances we developed a stochastic-demand scheduling model. We employed arc-based and route-based strategies to develop two heuristic algorithms that can be used to solve the model. The test results, based on a major Taiwan airline's operation, show the good performance of the model and the solution algorithms. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Civil Engineering, National Central University, Chungli 32001, Taiwan (b) Department of Air Transportation, Kainan University, Taoyuan 33857, Taiwan Article History: Received 31 October 2006; Accepted 23 May 2007

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2006.05.002 Byline: Shangyao Yan, Ching-Hui Tang Keywords: Stochastic programming; Gate assignment; Stochastic flight delay; Real-time gate assignment Abstract: To make good flight to gate assignments, not only do all the relevant constraints have to be considered, but stochastic flight delays that occur in actual operations also have to be taken into account. In past research, airport gate assignments and stochastic disturbances have often been handled in the planning and the real-time stages separately, meaning that the interrelationship between these stages, as affected by such delays, has been neglected. In this research, we develop a heuristic approach embedded in a framework designed to help the airport authorities make airport gate assignments that are sensitive to stochastic flight delays. The framework includes three components, a stochastic gate assignment model, a real-time assignment rule, and two penalty adjustment methods. The test results are based on data supplied by a Taiwan international airport, and show that the proposed framework performs better than the current manual assignment process and the traditional deterministic model. Author Affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, National Central University, Chungli 32054, Taiwan Article History: Received 21 June 2005; Accepted 3 May 2006

In this research, we develop a short-term flight scheduling model with variable market shares in order to help a Taiwan airline to solve for better fleet routes and flight schedules in today's competitive markets. The model is formulated as a nonlinear mixed integer program, characterized as an NP-hard problem, which is more difficult to solve than the traditional fixed market share flight scheduling problems, often formulated as integer/mixed integer linear programs. We develop a heuristic method to efficiently solve the model. The test results, mainly using the data from a major Taiwan airline's operations, show the good performance of the model and the solution algorithm. Keywords: Scheduling; Routing; Optimization; Variable market shares; Non-linear mixed integer program, 1. Introduction Fleet routing and flight scheduling are essential to a carrier's profitability, its level of service, its competitive capability, and its market share. There are many factors that need [...]