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SchedulAir™ unified optimization™

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We are now launching our novel product, SchedulAir, the only one in the market that can deliver:

unified airline schedule optimization !

Read about SchedulAir:
You can also download our brochure (134kB PDF file). To be able read it you will need a PDF file reader (i.e. Adobe Acrobat Reader), which is available here.

Product overview

The following diagram demonstrates how SchedulAir works:

Unified Optimization

SchedulAir unifies the optimization of all airline scheduling stages and uniquely accounts for their mutual interaction. This results in an optimal overall schedule and resource balancing across all fleets. Such a unification is not trivial, and is achieved for the first time through the novel mathematical algorithms we have invented. In addition, SchedulAir can be smoothly integrated with your existing systems.
In contrast, systems in the market perform only sequential integration. This breaks apart the scheduling stages' optimization, conveying the results of one stage to the next, disregarding the downstream consequences. Each stage is therefore individually optimized, but the overall schedule is suboptimal and lacks flexibility in resource balancing.

As a result, SchedulAir reduces airlines':
  • overall scheduling costs by up to $150 per flight,
  • average delays and associated costs,
  • crew fatigue,
in contrast to the more limited results achieved by the sequential integration available in the market today. More details of the comparison between unified optimization and sequential integration can be found in our original project's research at Imperial College.

Benefits

Overall cost reduction

SchedulAir assigns fleets, routes aircraft (whilst accounting for maintenance), and schedules crew simultaneously, thereby minimizing costs of the full schedule. Systems in the market instead optimize the crew schedules and the aircraft routes of each fleet individually, resulting in suboptimal overall solutions.

In the short term airlines can save up to $150 per flight. We have shown this by experiments performed with real data from airlines of various fleet compositions, different crew regulations and costs (fixed or variable), and different network structures.

In the long term airlines do not have to be confined to certain types of aircraft, but have more freedom in choosing the best fleet composition. This is because the schedules produced by SchedulAir are as efficient and flexible as single fleet schedules, eliminating some of the extra costs stemming from mixed fleets.

Decreased delays and associated costs

Whenever crew or aircraft are not punctual delays occur. SchedulAir combines aircraft routing and crew scheduling, thus controlling when crew change aircraft. Based on these changes, SchedulAir also considers the costs of average delays, minimizing the expected overall operating costs. This benefit is further enhanced by the freedom to choose which flights are assigned to each fleet, as fleet assignment is also unified with aircraft routing and crew scheduling.

Reduced crew fatigue

Due to the mixed nature of fleets, pilots of a certain fleet might face schedules that are causing more fatigue than those of their colleagues operating other fleets.

With SchedulAir airlines can set different global crew schedule parameters. SchedulAir uses these parameters to assign the appropriate flights to each fleet, balancing the crew fatigue across fleets with optimal crew utilization.


To view more of the research evidence behind these benefits see our original project at Imperial College.

Features

GUI simultaneously analysing the results of Aircraft Routing with Maintenance and Crew Scheduling.

Fleet assignment

Schedules can be automatically fed to SchedulAir (e.g. by a SSIM file), and then optimize by taking into account the revenue from the expected passenger demand and operating costs (i.e. fuel, oil, airport fees). It is also very simple to set airport and fleet specific constraints (i.e. curfew).

Aircraft maintenance routing

SchedulAir designates aircraft routes by optimizing through-flight revenues and deciding whether crew should operate the same aircraft for consecutive flights. Our system is also flexible in incorporating additional routing constraints such as those stemming from maintenance regulations.

Crew scheduling (pairing)

With SchedulAir it is easy to define complex crew rules based on several rule families (CAP-371, CAO, FARS, and JARS), and account for all crew costs, i.e. utilization, wages, per diem, allowances, standby, deadhead, hotels and other external costs.

Robust schedules

SchedulAir produces robust schedules by accounting for historical delay bottlenecks and the expected costs affecting a schedule, ensuring that the most costly situations will be avoided. This is further enhanced by the combination of crew scheduling with aircraft routing.

What-if analysis

SchedulAir offers you the opportunity to have a thorough what-if analysis of several decision scenarios as well as their consequences in all stages of the scheduling process.

Smooth transition of your scheduling process

SchedulAir can be smoothly embodied within your current scheduling process. We offer a staged scheme to the adoption of SchedulAir involving some or all of the following phases, depending on your specific requirements.

1. Demonstration

We will process a current or historic sample of your schedule using SchedulAir and then demonstrate the potential alterations you should make to your schedule and the resulting benefits.

2. Commitment-free evaluation

You will have a commitment-free hands-on experience of SchedulAir to allow you to explore the effects of your own scheduling decisions.

3. Consulting

We can provide you on a bespoke or periodic basis new schedules or advice based on current data you supply, to allow you to optimize your schedules with the changing requirements of your business.

4. Fleet assignment - ONLY

Instead of fully substituting your current systems you can use SchedulAir for fleet assignment only. SchedulAir will therefore assign fleets, considering the implications, of the subsequent scheduling stages (aircraft routes and crew schedules). The improved fleet assignment solution may then be passed to your current aircraft routing and crew scheduling systems.

5. Unify

We can finally incorporate our full system to completely unify the scheduling process.

Research, development, and patents

Research on this product started in 2002, and was performed jointly by Imperial College London and Decisal Ltd. For a detailed explanation of the mathematical models and technologies developed, refer to the research project's page at Imperial College. After the initial research, which ended in 2006, the product was developed and finally launched in 2008.

The Intellectual Property Rights of SchedulAir are fully owned by Decisal Ltd, and the methods used are currently Patent Pending.
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