Reference no: EM133006538

An airline with operations in San Diego, California must staff its ticket counters inside the airport. Ticket attendants work 6-hour shifts at the counter. There are two types of agents: Those who speak English as first language and those who are fully bilingual (English and Spanish). The requirements for number of agents depend on the numbers of people expected to pass through the airline's ticket counters during various hours.

The airline believes that the need for agents between the hours 6am and 9pm are as follows:

6am - 9am (12 agents needed)
9am- noon (20 agents needed)
Noon - 3 pm (16 agents needed)
3pm - 6pm (24 agents needed)
6pm-9pm (12 agents needed)

Agents begin work either at 6am 9am, noon or 3 p.m. The shifts are designated as Shifts A, B, C, and D, respectively. It is the policy of the airline that at least half of the agents will speak English as the first language. Further, at least one-quarter of the agents should be fully bilingual (English and Spanish).

Problem A) How many and what type of agents should be hired for each shift to meet the language and staffing requirements for the airline, so that the total number of agents is minimized?

Problem B) What is the optimal hiring plan from a cost perspective if English-speaking agents are paid 25 dollars per hour and bilingual agents are paid 29 dollars per hour? Does the total number of agents needed change from that computed in part A?