Optimization model for electric aircraft tow tractors scheduling under operator cooperation

Abstract

Collaborating among operators can significantly reduce transportation costs—a concept already proven in the logistics industry. With growing transportation demand and the added complexity of electric vehicle (EV) charging times, airport ground support services face increasing pressure to optimize operations. This study introduces a novel concept of operator-cooperate mode for airport ground support services for the first time, where operators share vehicle fleets to enhance efficiency. This paper develops vehicle scheduling and cost allocation methods under the cooperation framework. Two models are established for scheduling electric tow tractors: one for the traditional operator-separate mode and another for the operator-cooperate mode. Using an adaptive large neighborhood search framework, algorithms are designed to generate scheduling plans that minimize costs and delays. To support cooperation, the study proposes a cost allocation method that considers differentiated unit delay costs and level of sharing among operators to ensure the feasibility and fairness of cooperation. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted based on one day of flight schedule data from a major international airport, validating the effectiveness of the algorithm and cost allocation method across 21 experimental scenarios. The results show that the algorithm delivers solutions faster than traditional solvers while keeping the weighted objective function gap within 2%.Moreover, the improved cost allocation method ensures greater fairness than the traditional Shapley method. The numerical experiments indicate that cooperation can save 5–16% in operating costs and 15–33% in delay times for airports, with the savings varying based on the sharing parameters. The study also uses sensitivity analysis and other quantitative methods to examine changes in overall and individual cooperated utility changes. It provides recommendations and decision-making strategies for configuring and managing airport ground operations.