ABSTRACT
Crew scheduling, the total number of crew, their utilization and total crew costs depend to a large extent on the chosen airline schedule variation. However, although there is a significant interdependence between the airline schedule design process and the crew scheduling process, these two processes are usually separated in order to facilitate problem solving. Crew costs in air transportation are extremely high, comprising on the average 10-15" of total air carrier costs. Therefore, crew scheduling and assignment to routes must be given due attention. This chapter considers the most important crew scheduling methods developed in the past two decades. Crew scheduling is one of the most important tasks encountered by air carriers. In addition to satisfying different company and/or state regulations having a direct influence on aircraft safety, the crew schedule must also ensure as low air carrier costs as possible.
