Airline Scheduling Optimization: Literature Review and a Discussion of Modeling Methodologies

The rapid development of civil aviation over the past decades has not only led to an increasing competition among airlines, but also the rise of irregularities, with challenges concerning the improvement of regulations and schedules under the maximization of profitability. Consequently, the airline scheduling optimization problem has received significant research interest as the foundation for an efficient deployment of airline resources and meeting market demand under complex operational requirements. In this paper, we dissect fundamental airline scheduling problems by reviewing thirteen representative mathematical models for schedule design, fleet assignment, aircraft routing, crew scheduling subproblems and their potential for integration. In contrast to existing review studies on airline scheduling problems, our main contribution lies in the introduction of state-of-the-art mathematical models with a specific focus on integration and robustness. In addition, we highlight a set of promising, yet challenging directions for future research in this domain.