Management of an airline reservation system presents many complex problems. One of these problems which has received much attention by the public in recent times has been the problem of 'overbooking', i.e. of the airline granting more seat reservations than the actual available number of seats on the aircraft. Since the airline has to contend with cancellations and 'no-shows' (unused reservations) and, at the same time, attempt to make optimal use of the available seats, some decision rules must be made regarding the allocation of reservations. The problem of finding the optimal set of decision rules is further complicated in flights with intermediate stops since a reservation system for the various legs must be introduced. This paper describes a mathematical model which would enable the airline reservations system to devise a set of rules for allocating seats on the various legs of a flight with an intermediate stop. Such a set of rules, based upon the rate at which reservations are actually being received vs. prior expectations of demand for the flight act to grant or deny reservations so that expected contribution to profit is maximized.
Optimal seat allocation for flights with one intermediate stop
Optimale Sitzplatzzuweisung bei Fluegen mit einer Zwischenlandung
Computers and Operations Research ; 5 , 1 ; 31-37
1978
7 Seiten, 4 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English