Assessing airline efficiency with a network DEA model: A Z-number approach with shared resources, undesirable outputs, and negative data

This study measures the efficiency of airlines using a novel fuzzy common weight additive network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) with shared resources, negative data, and undesirable outputs. First, an appropriate two-stage network is designed for each airline so that stages 1 and 2 are called the Production and Service stages, respectively. The proposed model adopts a top-down approach and calculates the efficiency of the system first and then estimates the efficiency of stages 1 and 2. To evaluate and predict the airlines’ efficiency considering fuzzy data and the reliability of the information, the values of input/intermediate/output variables are predicted as the Z-number and the appropriate Z-number version of NDEA (ZNDEA) models is proposed. To develop the proposed ZNDEA models and find common weights for the variables, three multi-objective ZNDEA models for the system, stage 1 and stage 2 are presented. The multi-objective common weight ZNDEA models are solved using the min-max Chebyshev goal programming technique and the final efficiencies are calculated. To illustrate the capability of the proposed approach, real-life data from Iranian airlines in 2022 are collected, and the efficiencies are analyzed. •Introducing a Z-number version of additive network DEA model for airline evaluation.•Considering data uncertainty and information reliability in airlines' evaluation.•Developing the proposed model to a common weight ZNDEA model.•Solving the proposed multi-objective ZNDEA model using Chebyshev goal programming.