A Heuristic Algorithm for Assigning Crews Among Bases in an Airlift Operation

In this paper, the optimum assignment of crews among the bases in an airlift operation is considered. An airlift operation consists of transporting large quantities of equipment and personnel among various bases. The crews operating the aircraft rest for a constant period of time after arriving at the bases, before flying again. In order to minimize the waiting times of the aircraft at the bases for want of rested crews, the available crews are distributed initially among the bases.Using earlier results of the mean waiting time of an aircraft at a single base and the probability distribution of the inter-departure times of the aircraft from the base, the problem of optimum allocation of crews is formulated as a non-linear integer programming problem. A heuristic algorithm is developed using the Lagrange multiplier. Its solution is compared with the exact solution for a number of test cases, and the algorithm is found to perform well.