Robust Airline Fleet Assignment:Imposing Station Purity Using Station Decomposition.

Fleet assignment models are used by many airlines to assign aircraft to flights in a schedule to maximize profit [1]. A major airline reported that the use of the fleet assignment model increased annual profits by more than $100 million [3] a year over three years. The results of fleet assignment models affect subsequent planning, marketing and operational processes within the airline. Anticipating these processes and developing solutions favorable to them can further increase the benefits of fleet assignment models. We develop fleet assignment solutions that increase planning flexibility and reduce cost by imposing station purity, limiting the number of fleet types allowed to serve each airport in the schedule [4]. Imposing station purity on the fleet assignment model can limit aircraft dispersion in the network and make solutions more robust relative to crew planning, maintenance planning and operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]