INTEGER PROGRAMMING MODEL FOR OPTIMIZED MAINTENANCE OF AIRCRAFT BATTERIES

The maintenance of repairable aircraft components is critical to ensuring operational safety, fleet availability, and cost control. In medium and large airlines, the complexity involved in planning these activities highlights the need for decision support methods. This work proposes a mixed-integer programming model to optimize the corrective maintenance or replacement plan for aircraft batteries, using real data provided by a national airline. The objective is to minimize total maintenance cost over a planning horizon, while respecting operational constraints such as available maintenance windows, limited resources, and minimum reliability levels. The model incorporates parameters such as the known lifespan of the batteries, maintenance and replacement costs, and the operational capacity of the maintenance team. The formulation is solved using Python-based solvers, allowing scenario simulations and sensitivity analyses. Results show that the model produces feasible and cost-efficient plans aligned with sector constraints. The approach can be extended to other components and reinforces the role of operations research in the strategic management of aircraft maintenance.