Sustainability Analysis of Dispatcher Flight Routing Using Hybrid Fuzzy Method

This study proposes a hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to evaluate the sustainability impacts of dispatcher-optimized flight routing in aviation. The model integrates the Fuzzy Best-Worst Method (FBWM) for determining the relative importance of sustainability criteria and the Fuzzy MARCOS method for ranking routing alternatives. Data were collected from 11 aviation experts in Türkiye, including dispatchers, pilots, and fuel managers, ensuring a practical and multi-perspective evaluation. Seven criteria were considered: fuel consumption, CO₂ emissions, safety, cost efficiency, flight time, air traffic management (ATM) compatibility, and passenger comfort. The results demonstrate that Collaborative ATM-Integrated Routing is the most sustainable option, followed by Dynamic Weather-Adaptive Routing, while Standard Pre-Filed Routing ranked lowest. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the rankings across different weighting scenarios. These findings emphasize the critical role of dispatchers in shaping aviation sustainability outcomes and provide actionable insights for airlines, regulators, and policymakers in aligning operational practices with long-term net-zero and environmental goals. The study contributes to the literature by integrating operational decision-making into sustainability evaluations and offering a replicable methodological framework for future aviation studies.