Multidisciplinary and Multi-Objective Optimization Considering Aircraft Program Cost and Airline Network

Abstract

Aerial network routes and their flight frequencies are crucial for the strategic planning of airlines, which must choose optimum airplane types to improve revenue and/or reduce operating costs. In addition, aircraft manufacturers need to identify airplane configurations that better suit airline operations and establish list prices for their products as well as calculate the production and development costs of their products. To address these issues, the present study describes and applies a methodology to determine the optimal aerial transport network simultaneously with the identification of the optimum fleet for that network, namely, an integrated design. In the optimization simulations carried out in the present work, the objectives are the maximization of the airline’s network daily profit and the minimization of the airplane fleet acquisition cost. Each fleet is composed of three types of airliners, selected according to their passenger capacity. Airplanes are designed with high-fidelity methods and realistic performance calculations and must obey a set of requirements, including some related to FAR 25 certification rules. Optimization for a Brazilian network considering 21 cities was carried out with the maximization of the network daily profit and the minimization of the fleet acquisition cost. A comprehensive airplane manufacturer program cost estimation model was implemented, enabling the calculation of net present value of a transport airplane program and financial parameters.