ATC Rostering

In one of my first attempts at using an operations research approach to solving a problem, a small team of friends took on the challenge of creating an ‘optimal’ working schedule for Air Traffic Controllers at Auckland Airport.

After ensuring we understood the requirements for safe and effective staffing levels we took to work to look at how we could minimise the number of controllers we would need on duty at any given time, such that all staffing level requirements were met.

We looked at how our schedule would cope with air traffic in real time, under a variety observed days of actual air traffic. The results of our simulation can be seen below.