Prioritization of used aircraft acquisition criteria: A fuzzy best–worst method (BWM)-based approach

Used aircraft acquisition is one of the most important issues for airline companies, with multiple factors affecting the results. However, there is a lack of research on which criteria and to what extent these criteria affect the used aircraft acquisition operation. To this end, focusing on the identification and prioritization of used aircraft acquisition criteria, this paper presents a fuzzy best–worst method (BWM)-based approach. Firstly, by using the grounded theory analysis, 55 initial criteria that affect the used aircraft acquisition operation are identified based on the literature review. Then, an empirical analysis is conducted through a questionnaire survey, and 40 criteria are finally determined to be important to used aircraft acquisition based on the judgments of industry experts. Finally, the fuzzy BWM is adopted to rank the identified criteria with respect to the relative importance of these criteria, it is found that the physical situation of the aircraft is the most important criterion for used aircraft acquisition. The results presented in this paper could assist decision-makers to focus on the crucial criteria for used aircraft acquisition.