An Optimal Algorithm for Aircraft Scheduling Problem by Column Generation

열(列) 생성(生成) 기법(技法)에 의한 항공기(航空機) 운항계획(運航計劃) 문제(問題)의 최적해법(最適解法)

The aircraft scheduling, which is used to determine flight frequency, departure times and aircraft type assignments, is main problem of airline's planning. This paper proposes a new algorithm for aircraft scheduling that is to maximize airline profits. This paper proposes a column generation algorithm to get an optimal solution of the continous relaxation not using all the feasible variables, but using only a limited number of variables that is generated whenever it is necessary. Using this algorithm, proposes an optimal algorithm to get an optimal integer solution of aircraft scheduling problem efficiently. The effectiveness of the column generation algorithm and the optimal algorithm is illustrated by the computational results obtained from a series of real airline problems.