A Decision Support Model and Analysis for Aircraft Maintenance Planning

Abstract

Aircraft maintenance planning and scheduling is a major decision airline operators must make. If properly done, this can result in huge cost savings and high productivity. Maintenance downtime (from daily inspections, component replacements and different types of scheduled checks) is a key operational bottleneck that must be minimized while maintaining aircraft for safety and reliability. This paper provides a planning model which determines the optimal solutions to aircraft maintenance planning and scheduling using a Non-Linear Pure Binary Mathematical Program solved using the Evolutionary Algorithm search engine of the Excel Solver. Results obtained using data from an actual airline for the proposed model and heuristic results in a higher likelihood of meeting operational flight schedule at relatively minimized overall downtime. There is an optimal balance between constraints set by irregular component failures, regulatory maintenance requirements and the anticipatory expectations of meeting projected flight schedule over a given period operation.