INFORM-Measuring and Monitoring Aircraft Turn Operations v3

„Advanced Optimisation - optimiert entscheiden!“
www.inform-software.com
Measuring and Monitoring
Aircraft Turn Operations
David Foster
2014 AGIFORS Ops Study Group
Panama City, Panama
@DMartinFoster
#AGIFORS

Motivation and Background
Aircraft Turn Process
Monitor and Control
Measuring and Monitoring Aircraft Turn Operations

Introduction
Robustness is as important as efficiency for airline operations
All components are connected to form a network
A disturbance (i.e. delay) that occurs in one component can influence
an entire network
4
“There are a lot of side benefits to running
a good, clean operation”
David Holtz, VP of Operations Control,
Delta Air Lines (WSJ 01/05/2012)

History
Academic focus on predicting push-back time as a stochastic
process
Bayesian forecasts using available or elapsed ground time
(Carr, Theis, Clarke, Feron 2005)
Status of independent stochastic sub-processes
However, goal should be to reduce variability and promote
consistency
Eliminate the need for “buffer” time
5
Deplaning
Servicing
Boarding

History
Operational focus on post-operation analysis
Delay Codes
Root cause hard to determine
Short failures (1-5 minutes) can be the result of a disruption anywhere in the
process
Short failures can be masked by down line processes making up time
Specific divisional focus
Limited process scope and understanding of the overall process
Industry-focus on reducing ground time
“… it can be difficult for airlines to achieve turn-time reductions if they
don’t fully understand the factors influencing airplane turnarounds.”
(Troy Barnett, Principal Maintenance Engineer, Boeing)
“Boeing offers a service that analyzes turnarounds and provides
recommendations to reduce turn-times…”
6

History
Corporate emphasis on schedule reliability
Block time forecasts
Taxi-time forecasts
Minimum Objective Ground Time
IROP recovery and management
7
Graph sources: Idris, et al. 1998 and Kim & Feron 2013

En Route
ATC
Taxiing
Ground
Movement
Area
Airport/
ATC
Take
Off
RWY
ATC
RWY
Landing
ATC
Taxiing
Ground
Movement
Area
Airport/
ATC
Gate
Apron
HandlerHandler
End of
Handling
Apron RWY
Take
Off
ATC
Surface Turnaround Departure/AirAir SurfaceDeparture ArrivalTurnaround
As part of A-CDM
Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM)

Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM)
Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) objectives:
Reduce delays
Improve system performance
Maximize resource utilization
A-CDM Methods:
Accurate Data
Estimated Arrival and Departure Times
Data Sharing
Airline Decision Communication
Flight Delays or Cancelations
Rescheduling with priorities
9

Seven things you must have before a flight can depart
Airplane
Flight Crew
Cabin Crew
Passengers
Baggage
Fuel, Food, Drinks, etc.
Air Traffic Environment
11

Operational Departments/Organizations
Airline
Internal
Operations
Customer Service
Check In
Lounge
Gate Agents
Ground Handling
Bag room
Drivers
Load/Unload
crews
Aircraft
Appearance
Cabin Cleaning
Lavatory Service
Water Service
Maintenance
Line Maintenance
Base
Maintenance
External
Fueling Catering Special Services
PRM
Unaccompanied
minors
12

Typical B737NG Turn-Time Servicing Arrangement
13
Source: www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine

Turning a flight at an airport
Tasks
Expected Start and End
Expected Durations
Task Dependencies
Resource Assignments
Ownership
Status (Started, in-progress, completed)
In this way it is not dissimilar
to a project
PERT Chart
Gantt Chart
Critical Path
14

Process Dependency Network

Process Gantt Chart
16
Source: www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine

Calculate the earliest start time and latest finish of each task
Establish Critical Path
Ground Handling Processes

Monitor & Control
Once a plan is in place, it must be monitored for compliance
Disruptions proactively managed
However, ground controllers traditionally have limited
observability of the states of sub-processes
Pull information
Departure Control System
Flight Operations System
Voice phone call or radio
Look out window
Deicing
Fueling
Catering
19

Real Time Monitoring

Real Time Gantt Chart

HubControl
RT Hub
Monitoring and Steering
RT Staff
Resource Management System
Allocation
Mobile Communication
Status Information
Interfaces and Communication
Boarding Fuel CateringLoading Ramp Agent
DB

Airport Map and Surface Survalience
for operational transparency

Airlines With Monitoring Systems
Hub Control Centers
No Windows!

Conclusion
Robustness is as important as efficiency for airline operations
Need to fully understand the factors influencing turnarounds
Focus on sub-processes and clearly script the steps required
Make sure everyone knows:
What needs to be done
Who needs to do it
When it must done
Why it must be done
Where to do it
How to do it
Measure and monitor
Be proactive in managing process disruptions
Identify frequent offenders
25

Source of images: INFORM GmbH and www.pixelio.de
For more information, contact:
David Foster
E: david.foster@inform-software.com
T: +1 (404) 333-0234

References
27
Barnett, Troy, “Improving Ramp/Terminal Operations for Shorter Turn-Times”,
www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine
Busby, Scott, “Delta Air Lines Aircraft Turn Operations in Atlanta”, 2010 INFORM Users Conference, Aachen,
Germany.
Carr, Francis, Georg Teis, John-Paul Clarke and Eric Feron, “Evaluation of Improved Pushback Forecasts Derived
from Airline Ground Operations Data”, Journal of Aerospace Computing, Information and Communication, Vol 2.
January 2005.
Idris, Husni R., Bertrand Delcaire, Ioannis Anagnostakis, William D. Hall, John-Paul Clarke, R. John Hansman, Eric
Feron, and Amedeo R. Odoni, “Observations of Departure Processes at Logan Airport To Support The Development
of Departure Planning Tools”, 2nd USA/Europe Air Traffic Management R&D Seminar, December 4, 1998.
Kim, Sang Hyun, Eric Feron, John-Paul Clarke, Ande Marzuoli and Daniel Delahaye, “Airport Gate Scheduling for
Passengers, Aircraft and Operation”, January 17, 2013.
Kim, Sang Hyun, and Eric Feron, “Numerical Analysis of Gate Conflict Duration and Passenger Transit Time in
Airport”, Preprint submitted to Transportation Research Part B, August 29, 2013.
McCartney, Scott, “Ranking Airlines by Lost Bags, Canceled Flights”, Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2012, p. D3.

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