Reducing Total Time in the Gate Assignment Problem

Time is a limited resource with a high value for passengers. Several studies have been made to optimize the assignment of flights to gates looking at reducing the walking distance for passengers. This paper proposes to also consider the time passengers spend taxiing due to the gate assignment. In this way, we have a global optimization that includes users and operators. The effect of considering this aircraft taxiing time is analyzed in both a linear open and a single pier terminal. Applying simulation and geometrical probability to these ideal examples, low rates of transfer passengers produce a 20 seconds/pax reduction in the average time by marginally increasing the average walking distance. For high rates of transfer passengers, the difference reaches up to 22 seconds/pax on the average time for each considering the possible optimal assignations to minimize walking distance in the linear terminal.