A SIMULATION-OPTIMIZATION APPROACH TO IMPROVE THE ALLOCATION OF SECURITY SCREENING RESOURCES IN AIRPORT TERMINAL...

Area of Science:

• Operations Research
• Transportation Science
• Industrial Engineering

Background:

• Airport security screening checkpoints (SSCPs) face operational challenges due to unpredictable passenger flow and resource availability.
• Decisions regarding checkpoint configuration and staffing must be made in advance, despite inherent data uncertainties.
• Optimizing SSCP operations is critical for efficient airport management and passenger experience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a simulation-based optimization strategy for improving airport SSCP operations.
• To provide a flexible modeling approach for determining optimal checkpoint configurations and workforce allocations.
• To effectively manage uncertainties in passenger arrivals and resource performance.

Main Methods:

• Developed a simulation-based optimization strategy tailored for SSCP environments.
• Incorporated uncertainties related to passenger arrival times and resource availability/performance into the decision-making model.
• Evaluated the strategy by comparing its performance against a benchmark scenario.

Main Results:

• The simulation-based optimization strategy achieved a 31.4% improvement in passenger cycle time.
• The strategy demonstrated effectiveness in optimizing checkpoint configurations and workforce allocation under uncertain conditions.
• The approach successfully addressed the dynamic and unpredictable nature of SSCP operations.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based optimization is a powerful technique for enhancing the efficiency of airport security screening.
• The proposed strategy offers a flexible and effective solution for optimizing SSCP configurations and staffing.
• Implementing this strategy can significantly reduce passenger waiting times and improve overall airport security operations.