Pushback delays on the routing and scheduling problem of aircraft

With the constant increase in air traffic, airports are facing capacity problems. Optimisation methods for specific airport processes are starting to be increasingly utilised by many large airports. However many processes happen in parallel and a more complex optimisation model is required, which can consider multiple processes simultaneously. This paper focuses on the importance of the pushback process in the routing process. It investigates whether taking the pushback process into consideration can predic t delays that otherwise would pass unnoticed. Having an accurate model for the pushback process is important for this and identifying all of the delays that may occur can lead to more accurate and realistic models that can be used in the decision making process for ground movement operations. After testing a model with a more detailed pushback process we found that a lot of the delays are not predicted if the process is not explicitly modelled. Having a more precise model with accurate movements of aircraft is highly important for an integrated model and will allow ground movement models to be used for more reliable integrated decision making systems on airports. Minimising these delays can help airports increase their capacity and become more environmentall y friendly.