Aircraft Ground Routing and Scheduling Optimization

In this paper we deal with the ground optimization problem, that is the problem of routing and scheduling airplanes surface maneuvering operations. We consider the specific case study of Malpensa Terminal Maneuvering Area (Italy). Our objective function is the minimization of total tardiness. At first a routing problem is solved to assign a path to each aircraft in the terminal, then the scheduling problem of minimizing the average tardiness is addressed. We model the scheduling problem as a job-shop scheduling problem. We develop heuristic procedures based on the alternative graph formulation of the problem to construct and improve feasible solutions. Experimental results based on real data and analysis are reported.