AN INTERACTIVE DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR AIRLINE PLANNING

Flight scheduling is an important operation in the airline planning department. At the initial stage of the scheduling process, a seasonal schedule is produced according to market demand, resource capacities, and environmental constraints, The seasonal schedule will then be adjusted to become a number of feasible weekly schedules based upon some special requirements that may be known only a week prior to the operation. However, the final chosen weekly schedule lacks quantitative evaluation. This paper presents an interactive decision support system that is designed to help in short-term scheduling and in conducting evaluations on any produced schedule. The system employs a simulation approach to assess the performance of each feasible schedule. The simulation process is based on an event-oriented approach using a network mechanism to ensure flight dependencies. The information obtained from the simulation process can be further analyzed by using an interactive multicriteria analysis module that has been implemented in the system for selecting the most suitable schedule. In order to provide schedule analysts with an efficient and effective environment for repeating their selection process, the system also has the capability of constructing and maintaining utility profiles for individual users.