Multicriteria decision-making in flight route selection

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to present a hybrid logical-arithmetic approach for selecting optimal flight routes. It can be used in the framework of free route airspace (FRA), which is aimed at achieving higher efficiency of air traffic management.Design/methodology/approachAt the first stage, an initial subset of flight routes is selected that are promising alternatives with respect to single numerical criteria. At the second stage, a hybrid multicriteria decision model is constructed, consisting of numerical criteria and additional linguistic criteria. At the third stage, the numerical and linguistic criteria are integrated into a crisp decision matrix for determining the final ranking using the technique for order preferences by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method.FindingsThe considered decision-making problem involves different kinds of criteria. Numerical (objective) criteria are given as real numbers. Linguistic (subjective) criteria are expressed with the help of fuzzy linguistic values. In consequence, a (logical) reasoning process prior to performing an (arithmetic) optimization procedure is necessary. Furthermore, a uniform optimization procedure requires a way of combining numerical and linguistic attributes.Practical implicationsThe proposed approach can be applied to solving various multicriteria decision-making problems, where both objective and subjective criteria are taken into account.Originality/valueFirst, a fuzzy information system that includes linguistic condition attributes is constructed. Second, a fuzzy inference system that is necessary for determining the resulting fuzzy criterion “turbulence conditions” for all flight routes is introduced. Finally, a way of combining numerical and linguistic criteria is proposed. This is done by converting values of fuzzy attributes into crisp ones, basing on the preferences of a decision-maker.