Surface Planning with Explicit Consideration of Environmental Objectives Encompassing Sustainability in Operational Optimization

We formulate the taxi-routing optimization problem with explicit consideration of both operational efficiency and environmental impacts. This enables trade-offs between operational objectives (e.g., maintaining schedule) and environmental objectives (e.g., minimizing air-pollutant production) to be addressed. Experiments using DFW data compare actual taxi operations to optimized operations using different algorithms and different aircraft weighting factors based on environmental performance. We discuss inclusion of a fairness metric to address stakeholder concerns of equitable allocation of limited resources.