Long-Term Flight Planning Using An Optimization Application

Introduction An optimization application was designed and implemented to create flight plans for non-urgent patient transfers (i.e. long-term plans, LTPs) at a provincial air ambulance system. The computer application uses algorithms to meet all patient transfer demands while optimizing flight time and cost. This study categorized each LTP based upon 1) their application dependence and, 2) adherence to the LTP of actual next-day flight operations. The categories will be compared based on cost (cost-per-required-distance) and efficiency (distance-travelled-per-required-distance). Methods This study evaluated all LTP requests between May 31st and August 8th, 2017. Each LTP was classified into one of the following categories based on their application-dependence and adherence to the LTP: 'application-derived', 'manual', or 'major next-day changes'. The cost and efficiency of the flights were calculated and compared. Results Data was collected and analyzed for 151 long-term plans. There were 46 LTPs categorized as application-derived, 33 as manual, and 72 had major next-day changes. Cost and efficiency analysis found significant differences between the flights based on application-dependence. There were significant differences (p Conclusion There were significant differences between cost and efficiency of flights that followed the LTP compared to those deviating from the LTP. Policies to limit non-essential changes to next-day flight patterns after the LTP has been created, particularly to limit late-requests after LTP planning is complete, would improve efficiencies.