A column generation-based framework for ATFM incorporating a user-driven prioritization process

Abstract

A column generation-based framework is proposed for air traffic flow management (ATFM) incorporating a user-driven prioritization process (UDPP). Airspace Users' (AUs') preferences and priorities can be explicitly reflected in the framework. AUs are allowed to propose their preferred routes as initial options and AUs' delay cost structure can be customized and not revealed to other AUs. Major UDPP features, including Fleet Delay Reordering, Selective Flight Protection, and Margins, are fully incorporated in the proposed framework. In the master problem, the model selects 4D-routes for flights subject to sector capacity constraints. In the subproblems, new 4D-routes are generated. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed framework can efficiently solve the ATFM problem considering UDPP features with often zero or small optimality gaps. The effectiveness of UDPP is also verified using case studies. Parallelism of subproblems considerably further reduces the runtime and the large-scale scenario computational time can be reduced to around 30 min.