Hierarchical goal programming approaches to solve a discrete‐time formulation for the aircraft recovery problem of a Brazilian oil and gas company

• Published in: International transactions in operational research Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 1343 - 1374
• Main Authors: Fantazzini, Tarley Mansur, Vieira, Thiago, Morabito, Reinaldo, Munari, Pedro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2025
• Subjects: Aircraft performance; aircraft recovery problem; Decision making; Flight; Goal programming; helicopter flights; Helicopter performance; integer linear programming; Integer programming; Linear programming; offshore platforms; oil and gas companies; Petroleum industry; Recovery; Brazil
• ISSN: 0969-6016; 1475-3995
• DOI: 10.1111/itor.13516

We address the aircraft recovery problem faced by a Brazilian oil and gas company during its offshore operations. This problem involves hiring helicopters from an outsourced company to transport personnel from an airport to maritime units. The performed flights are subject to disruptions and might require rescheduling. To assist with decision‐making in such situations, we introduce a discrete‐time integer linear programming (ILP) model that considers company‐specific attributes, including a lexicographic objective function that prioritizes (i) the reduction of flight transfers to the next day; (ii) the reduction of helicopter utilization; and (iii) the reduction of flight delays of the day. We develop four different solution approaches using hierarchical goal programming based on the proposed model, aided by enhancements and valid inequalities. Computational experiments using both real‐world and simulated instances demonstrate that our approaches can provide effective solutions for most instances using a general‐purpose ILP solver within acceptable computation times.