Selecting the right gate for each flight can minimize aircraft taxi times and alleviate congestion, allowing travelers to spend less time waiting on the tarmac. This also reduces fuel consumption and lowers the plane’s emissions. Typically, gates are assigned when flight schedules are released, often up to a year in advance, and are reviewed a month, a week, and finally on the day of the flight.
The next time you rush to your airport gate, consider the airline staff responsible for ensuring that the gate is available. Gate allocation is a surprisingly intricate process. “With 15 gates and 10 airplanes, there are over 570 billion possibilities,” explains Dr. Joseph Doetsch, quantum computing lead at Lufthansa Industry Solutions, who has been studying this issue.
Several priorities must be balanced when determining the best parking location for an aircraft. “For instance, certain airlines may receive access to gates near their lounges and other amenities. Additionally, flights with a high number of connecting passengers are often assigned gates to optimize transfer times and enhance the overall passenger experience,” notes George Richardson, co-founder of the airport management firm AeroCloud.
Budget airlines might prefer cost-effective remote stands with lower parking fees, focusing on operational savings rather than proximity to the main terminal. Other considerations include the direction of the incoming aircraft, its type, expected runway assignments, gate availability, airport staffing, passenger and baggage connections, and scheduled taxiway and tarmac movements of other planes. Many of these factors can shift at the last minute, complicating matters.
Delayed flights can further complicate gate assignments, requiring airports and airlines to reallocate gates rapidly, leading to longer waits for passengers and potentially resulting in flight cancellations. Given this complexity, one might assume advanced software would manage gate allocation, but the reality is different.
An AeroCloud survey of senior airport executives revealed that many airports still rely on surprisingly basic technology. “You’d be amazed at how many airports globally still manage the process manually,” says Richardson. Among the executives surveyed, 40% reported using Excel and Word documents to manage information related to airport operations, including gate management.
However, significant investments are being made in more sophisticated systems. Last year, American Airlines launched Smart Gating at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, a system that employs machine learning to assign arriving aircraft to the nearest available gate with the shortest taxi time. Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, utilizes large datasets to train a system that can be refined for better performance.
Previously, American Airlines staff manually assigned gates using an outdated computer system, which took about four hours to complete at their largest hub, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The new system can now finish this task in just 10 minutes, reducing aircraft taxi times by 20% and saving approximately 1.4 million gallons of jet fuel annually, according to an airline spokesperson.
Lufthansa Industry Solutions, a subsidiary of the German airline, is also exploring quantum computing to tackle gate allocation issues. Quantum computing harnesses the unique properties of qubits to solve specific problems much more rapidly than traditional computers. Although quantum computers are still in their early stages, Dr. Doetsch believes they will excel at gate allocation.
“Quantum algorithms will facilitate optimal gate and resource assignments even in large airports and travel networks. These algorithms will respond to external changes with updated optimal solutions in real-time,” he states. Lufthansa is currently assessing which new quantum computing systems would best suit its needs and is running simulations to gauge the effectiveness of quantum computing.
“In our initial trials, our optimized solutions could reduce average transit times for passengers by nearly 50% compared to real-world data,” adds Dr. Doetsch. According to AeroCloud’s Richardson, these advanced techniques could lessen the need for airport expansions, which are a significant concern. “Capacity is a major issue for many airports, and even if they wanted to introduce new carriers or destinations, physical expansion poses a challenge. They need to make the most of their existing resources.”
