This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goto, J. H. Articles by Puterman, M. L. Search for Related Content

Coffee, Tea, or ...?: A Markov Decision Process Model for Airline Meal Provisioning

Centre for Operations Excellence, University of British Columbia, 209–2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2
Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, 1205 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109–2117
Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2
jgoto{at}coe.ubc.ca
melewis{at}engin.umich.edu
marty{at}coe.ubc.ca

This paper develops and analyzes a finite horizon Markov decision process model for the airline meal provisioning activity focusing explicitly on developing policies for determining and revising the number of meals to upload. Using one year of daily data from over 40 flights, the paper shows that the optimal policies can result in both improved customer service and significant dollar savings, especially in long haul flights. It also applies the model to derive an efficient frontier and investigate tradeoffs between having too few and too many meals on a flight.

Key Words: air transportation; airline operations; dynamic programming; perishable inventory control
History: Received: February 2001; revised: November 2001; accepted: January 2002.