Addressing the systemic complexity of airline irregular operations: Toward integrated schedule recovery

Abstract

Irregular operations (IROPS) are among the most complex challenges in airline management. Drawing from both academic gaps and practitioner insight, this paper reframes IROPS as a system-level problem rooted in capacity–demand imbalances and characterized by deeply interdependent recovery decisions. We discuss main core recovery actions and maps the main directional interdependencies among them, highlighting how local actions propagate across the airline network. This reconceptualization shifts the focus from compartmentalized solutions toward integrated, operationally aligned recovery models. The contribution lies in redefining the problem itself to better reflect the realities of airline operations and decision-making. Our goal is to provide a foundation for future modeling, simulation, and optimization studies that more accurately represent the dynamics of large-scale disruption recovery.