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Dynamic Allocation of Airline Check-In Counters: A Queueing Optimization Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Mahmut Parlar

    (DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada)

  • Moosa Sharafali

    (Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, Singapore 178899)

Abstract

This paper was motivated by an observation in an international airport with regard to allocation of resources for check-in counters. In an exclusive check-in counter system, each flight has a dedicated number of counters that will be open until at least a half-hour before the scheduled departure of that flight. Currently, in many of the airports around the world, the decision to open or close check-in counters is done on an ad hoc basis by human schedulers. In doing so, the schedulers are almost always forced to perform a balancing act in meeting the quality of service stipulated by the airport authority vis-à-vis the optimal allocation of the resources to the counters. There appear to be very few academic and application papers in counter management, and most of those that have looked into this problem have resorted to simulation to study the queue characteristics. Ours is the first paper to show that for a specific flight, this complicated problem is amenable to analytical treatment. We first propose a multicounter queueing model with a special type of arrival process reflecting reality from the population of passengers booked for the flight. Most importantly, we derive the time-dependent operating characteristics to the queueing process under a specified time-window constraint. Then a stochastic dynamic programming model is formulated to determine the optimal numbers of counters to open over the time window specified. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the model solution and gain managerial insights.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahmut Parlar & Moosa Sharafali, 2008. "Dynamic Allocation of Airline Check-In Counters: A Queueing Optimization Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(8), pages 1410-1424, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:54:y:2008:i:8:p:1410-1424
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1070.0842
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yonghwa Park & Seung B. Ahn, 2003. "Optimal assignment for check-in counters based on passenger arrival behaviour at an airport," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 397-416, October.
    2. van Dijk, Nico M. & van der Sluis, Erik, 2006. "Check-in computation and optimization by simulation and IP in combination," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(3), pages 1152-1168, June.
    3. Yan, Shangyao & Tang, Chin-Hui & Chen, Miawjane, 2004. "A model and a solution algorithm for airport common use check-in counter assignments," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 101-125, February.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sultan Alodhaibi & Robert L. Burdett & Prasad K.D.V. Yarlagadda, 2020. "A Framework for Sharing Staff between Outbound and Inbound Airport Processes," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Kuo, Chung-Wei & Jou, Rong-Chang, 2018. "Air passengers’ willingness to pay for counter check-in services," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 203-215.
    3. Mujica Mota, Miguel, 2015. "Check-in allocation improvements through the use of a simulation–optimization approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 320-335.
    4. Lalita, T.R. & Manna, D.K. & Murthy, G.S.R., 2020. "Mathematical formulations for large scale check-in counter allocation problem," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Ying Liu & Xiuqing Yang & Yong Xiang & Yi Chen & Gang Mao & Xinzhi Zhou, 2022. "Allocation and optimization of shared self-service check-in system based on integer programming model," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 532-556, August.
    6. Xiangqian Xu & Zhexuan Zhou & Yajie Dou & Yuejin Tan & Tianjun Liao, 2018. "Sustainable Queuing-Network Design for Airport Security Based on the Monte Carlo Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Lin, Lei & Wang, Qian & Sadek, Adel W., 2014. "Border crossing delay prediction using transient multi-server queueing models," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 65-91.
    8. Rowan Wang & Oualid Jouini & Saif Benjaafar, 2014. "Service Systems with Finite and Heterogeneous Customer Arrivals," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 365-380, July.
    9. Thomas W. Lucas & W. David Kelton & Paul J. Sánchez & Susan M. Sanchez & Ben L. Anderson, 2015. "Changing the paradigm: Simulation, now a method of first resort," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 62(4), pages 293-303, June.
    10. Ornek, M. Arslan & Ozturk, Cemalettin & Sugut, Ipek, 2019. "Model-based heuristic for counter assignment problem with operational constrains: A case study," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 57-64.
    11. Oualid Jouini & Saif Benjaafar & Bingnan Lu & Siqiao Li & Benjamin Legros, 2022. "Appointment-driven queueing systems with non-punctual customers," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 1-56, June.

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