Scheduling and Assignment of Fighter Pilot Training Missions: A Two-Stage Optimization Approach Towards Increasing Personnel Readiness in the Armed Forces

Military fighter pilots spend most of their working hours performing training missions, simultaneously carried out by multiple pilots with different qualifications. Scheduling these missions is typically done manually, which is a time-consuming task resulting in far from optimal schedules. This study proposes a model that schedules three types of training missions and assigns pilots to these missions for a full-year training program. The proposed methodology consists of a two-stage Mixed Integer Program. Both stages are solved with a Brand and Bound algorithm. Additionally, the second stage implements a Rolling Horizon approach. A case study considering two Royal Netherlands Air Force fighter squadrons is used to test the model. The results show an increase of more than 15% for the average amount of training completed by all pilots, compared to the current scheduling process. The solutions are obtained in a few minutes, demonstrating the suitability to use the model in practice and reduce the time spent on constructing schedules.Aerospace Engineerin