System and method for rapid generation of minimum length pilot training schedules

A method for rapidly generating pilot training schedules, which comprises the following steps:

• receiving fleet training information including class, curriculum, resource, student, and instructor information from a user and a database;
• building branch and bound trees having a root node and plural child nodes each representing an alternative partial schedule;
• pruning from said branch and bound tree those of said plural child nodes which are infeasible;
• estimating a lower bound for each of remaining child nodes of said branch and bound tree;
• selecting from said remaining child nodes, child nodes having least lower bounds;
• generating from said solution child nodes having least lower bounds daily student and resource schedules;
• building a mixed integer programming model from said daily student and resource schedules, and from recurrent training requirements received from said user and said database, and
• solving said mixed integer programming model to provide student and resource schedules at a device period level, and provide time for recurrent training.

A system for generating minimum length pilot training schedules for all pilots of an entire airline, which comprises:

• a user communication interface receiving user requests and input data from a user, and status messages for informing said user;
• an optimizer system in electrical communication with said user communication interface for receiving said user requests and said input data, and in response thereto rapidly generating pilot training schedules;
• and
• a database in electrical communication with said optimizer system and having stored therein said input data, and said pilot training schedules for access by said user.