WQCG: Integrating Quantum Optimization and Classical Heuristics for Airline Fleet Scheduling

Speaker: Zbigniew Puchała, Head of the Quantum Information Systems Group, Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics, PAS, Gliwice

Abstract

The Tail Assignment Problem (TAP) is a key subcomponent in airline scheduling, involving the allocation of specific aircraft („tails”) to flights while satisfying operational, maintenance, and logistical constraints. Due to the high combinatorial complexity of TAP, we explore a quantum-ready formulation based on Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO), designed to leverage quantum annealing and future quantum hardware. This model encodes both hard constraints and operational cost functions into a unified optimization framework. To ensure practical applicability and robustness, we complement quantum-inspired approaches with classical optimization methods and heuristic techniques. These include decomposition by aircraft family, time-windowed scheduling, and resilience-enhancing strategies such as slack time and recovery potential.