Monolithic Approach for Next-Generation Aircraft Design Considering Airline Operations and Economics.

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Operations Research
• Airline Management

Background:

• Traditional system design optimization often overlooks operator interaction with existing systems, leading to sub-optimal performance.
• Sequential decomposition approaches design systems first, then consider operator use, failing to capture system-operator synergies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the disconnect between system design and operator use by integrating aircraft design, airline operations, and revenue management.
• To present a simultaneous optimization approach for these subspaces, treating them as a monolithic problem.

Main Methods:

• Formulated the integrated design and operations problem as a monolithic optimization problem.
• Employed a novel optimization framework to simultaneously solve multiple subspaces (aircraft design, airline operations, revenue management).
• Compared the simultaneous approach against traditional sequential subspace decomposition methods.

Main Results:

• Simultaneous optimization of subspaces significantly improved the airline's fleet-level objective compared to sequential methods.
• Demonstrated that independent maximization of revenue and minimization of operating costs do not guarantee maximized overall airline profit.
• Highlighted the "synergy" captured by the simultaneous optimization framework.

Conclusions:

• An integrated, simultaneous optimization approach for aircraft design and airline operations yields superior fleet-level performance.
• Operator-level objectives and system interactions must be considered concurrently with system design for optimal outcomes.
• The developed optimization framework effectively captures complex interdependencies for enhanced decision-making in airline management.