A linear programming approach for aircraft boarding strategy

Airlines are going through very difficult times financially which has been triggered by fierce competition and current high fuel prices. To stay competitive, it is absolutely essential that they achieve high efficiency in the areas that have control over. Airlines start generating revenues while their aircraft are flying. Reducing aircraft turn-around times is an important goal with passenger boarding being a major metric. This paper examines the interferences among the passengers that cause delays in boarding times for a single aisle aircraft. It offers a new mixed integer linear program to minimize these interferences. We then apply this mathematical model to an Airbus-320 aircraft. Alternative efficient solutions are generated based on the rate of passenger boarding. A simulation model is adopted to identify appropriate boarding patterns. The recommended boarding patterns provide a lower number of interferences than other strategies as well as accommodating neighboring passengers to board together. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.