Optimization of a simplified Fleet Assignment Problem with metaheuristics: Simulated Annealing and GRASP

The Fleet Assignment Problem consists of assigning aircrafts to flights, taking into consideration operational constraints of the airline company. This paper presents heuristics based on simulated annealing and GRASP for solving a simplified version of the Fleet Assignment Problem. The application of heuristics is essential as the space of feasible solutions grows exponentially with the size of the fleet and the number of flights. It allows to quickly find near-optimal results, by exploring only small part of the space of solutions.