Data analytics in managing aircraft routing and maintenance staffing with price competition by a Stackelberg-Nash game model

Abstract

This study develops a Stackelberg-Nash game model (SNGM) to capture the interdependence between aircraft routing of airlines and maintenance staffing of maintenance providers, and to consider the price competition among maintenance providers. The SNGM’s overall Nash equilibrium is obtained using an iterative game algorithm. The SNGM effectiveness is demonstrated with a case study, in which a neural network-based algorithm is developed to forecast accurate non-propagated delays, and a multiple linear regression algorithm is adopted to predict demand-price relationship for each maintenance provider. The results reveal cost savings of about 26% and 22% for the airline and the maintenance providers, respectively.