Effective Management of Airport Security Queues with Passenger Reassignment

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel approach to reducing airport security wait times by reassigning passengers to different time slots using a Minimum Cost Network Flow model, improving efficiency and passenger satisfaction.

Contribution

The study introduces a polynomial-time optimization model for passenger reassignment, enhancing airport security throughput and reducing wait times.

Findings

Significant reduction in wait times

Improved security throughput

Enhanced passenger satisfaction

Abstract

Airport security queues often suffer from inefficiencies that result in long wait times and decreased throughput, especially at peak departure time, affecting both passengers and airlines. This work addresses the problem of reassigning passengers to specific time slots for crossing security, aiming to mitigate these inefficiencies. We frame this problem as a Minimum Cost Network Flow (MCNF) problem, enabling us to solve it exactly in polynomial time due to its linear programming structure. Our approach redistributes passenger demand across different time intervals. By optimizing the reassignment of passengers to sigma-minute time slots, we achieve significant improvements in throughput and reductions in waiting time. Preliminary results demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in enhancing operational efficiency and passenger satisfaction. The MCNF formulation offers a scalable and adaptable solution, providing long-term benefits for airport security management.