Download Free Service Improvement And Cost Reduction For Airlines Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Service Improvement And Cost Reduction For Airlines and write the review.

Annual U.S. air travel demand has been growing steadily by 4-5% over the last decade, and it is estimated that the demand will nearly double in the next twenty years. It has also been estimated by the International Civil Aviation Organization that global demand for commercial aircraft will increase at an average annual rate of 4.1% by 2034 (IATA, 2014). However, airport expansions and aviation infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with the increase in air traffic demand, as only 3% of all the new airport projects around the world are planned in the U.S. (CAPA, 2015). Thus, the operation rates at existing airports are likely to increase significantly, implying a greater need to increase the utilization of currently available runway capacity. With steadily increasing demand in air traffic and limited airport capacity, delay in air traffic is ubiquitous. Approximately 25% of flights experience delays of at least 15 minutes each year, resulting in significant passenger service issues and costs to airlines and society in general. Delays constitute the top service complaint for airlines, which has implications for the society as a whole - both economically and environmentally. Flight delays also increase airline costs directly, due to associated additional fuel, crew and maintenance costs. Recent studies show that the estimated cost of air transportation delay to the American economy ranges from $32.9 billion to $41 billion a year, of which, $8 billion are direct costs to airlines (Ball et al., 2010; Ferguson et al., 2013). Noting that more than 60% of delay is due to airport operations (Balakrishna et al., 2010), this thesis aims at helping reduce delay through better management of arrival and departure operations at airports, which can create relevant and significant value for the airlines and for the society. Arrival and departure operations inherently involve significant uncertainty. When an aircraft is approaching the runway, many factors affect its trajectory, such as weather, wind conditions, pilot behavior, aircraft weight, as well as the differences in types of aircraft and flight management systems. When an aircraft arrives at the gate, operating conditions, such as unplanned security checks, varied durations of deplaning and boarding, as well as the maintenance and fueling involved, could contribute to variations of actual departure time for the next flight. All of these stochastic factors involve uncertainty and they need to be taken into account while making operational decisions. On the other hand, stochastic treatment of such operational problems has not been common in the literature due to difficulties associated with the characterization of uncertainty and the computational tractability. I argue in this thesis that, with recent advances in computing power and data analysis tools, such stochastic treatments are more amenable for practical use. To this end, I study four novel operational problems related to flight arrivals and departures at airports under the uncertainty of operating conditions, and demonstrate the potential value that can be generated through stochastic models within the context of airline and airport operations. The problems I study involve both strategic and tactical decisions for airline service improvement and cost reduction. The first two problems consider managing arrival operations at airports, while the last two problems focus on departure operations. In the first and second problems, I focus on arrival operations in the context of optimized profile descent (OPD), which is a novel arrival procedure for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. In the first problem, I identify policies for managing arrival operations at the tactical level by developing a stochastic dynamic programming framework to manage the sequencing and separation of flights. I find that simple calculation based measures can be used as optimal decision rules during such operations, and that the expected annual savings can be around $29 million if such implementations are adapted by major airports in the U.S. Of these savings, $24 million are direct savings for airlines due to reduced fuel usage, corresponding to a potential savings of 10-15% in fuel consumption over current practice. I also find that optimal spacing of OPD flights is much more important than optimal sequencing of these flights. Furthermore, there is not much difference between the environmental costs of fuel-optimal and sustainably-optimal spacing policies. Hence, an airline-centric approach in improving OPD operations is likely to be not in conflict with objectives that might be prioritized by other stakeholders. In the second problem, I study the optimal design of arrival traffic management systems at airports at the strategic level. I claim that implementation of OPD operations requires effective metering configurations at airports due to the increased role of uncertainty in aircraft trajectories during descent. I develop stochastic models to further increase the value of OPD operations over conventional arrival procedures by optimizing metering point configurations, which include identification of the optimal number and locations of metering points to use. I provide numerical results based on actual traffic information at major U.S. airports, which indicate that the total potential savings in the top ten major airports could be up to $22 million per year if the proposed policies are implemented. I also find that the optimal metering configurations are mostly robust under different operating conditions. In addition, my results suggest that early spacing adjustments near the top of descent (TOD) are of more value for larger volumes of air traffic. In the third and fourth problems, I study optimal departure operations at airports under the context of departure metering, which is an airport surface management procedure that limits the number of aircraft on the runway by holding aircraft at a predesigned metering area. More specifically, in the third problem, I develop a stochastic dynamic programming framework for tactical management of pushback operations at gates and for determining the optimal number of aircraft to be directed to the runway from the metering areas. I introduce four easy-to-implement practical departure metering policies and implement a comparative analysis between these practical policies and the optimal numerical solutions. I also implement sensitivity analysis of the departure metering policies over state variable values. In the fourth problem, I study the optimal metering area capacity at the strategic level. Building on the dynamic programming framework mentioned in the third problem, I identify the optimal metering area capacity using marginal analysis to minimize expected overall costs. Numerical simulations are implemented and potential savings are identified for sample U.S. airports based on varying capacity levels. The optimal metering area capacity is then determined based on the numerical implementations to further improve overall efficiency and sustainability of departure operations. I also analyze the benefits to airlines in terms of annual savings due to such policies, and find that the annual savings could be $31 million if the optimal departure metering policies are implemented at the top ten major airports in the U.S. Overall, as one of the few studies on stochasticity in arrival and departure operations, I derive both tactical and strategic policies to improve efficiency and sustainability for airlines and the society, which can enhance service quality and strengthen market position for the airlines involved.
An expert in business turnaround shares his inspiring approach to problem-solving: “A fascinating read” (Mitt Romney). Visionary leader Greg Brenneman believes that true business success and personal fulfillment are two sides of the same coin. The techniques that will grow your business will also help you achieve a rich, purposeful, and integrated life. Here, Brenneman takes what he’s learned from turning around or tuning up many businesses—including Continental Airlines and Burger King—and distills it into a simple, clear, five-step roadmap that anyone can follow. He teaches you how to: *prepare a succinct Go Forward plan *build a fortress balance sheet *grow your sales and profits *choose all-star servant leaders *empower your team For more than thirty years, Brenneman has seen these steps foster dramatic results in a variety of business environments. But he also came to realize that he could apply these same principles to improve his life and build a lasting moral legacy. He found he could make better decisions by carefully taking the most important facets of his life—faith, family, friendship, fitness, and finance—into consideration. Brenneman’s inspiring examples, from both his business and his life, demonstrate the astounding effects these steps can have when you apply them—right away and all at once.
The book is about the lean methodology which is developed and implemented by Toyota can equally be applicable in aircraft maintenance and engineering to reduce waste and improve productivity for cost-effectiveness. Proactive approach, ownership and situational awareness played a vital role in cost reduction. “A stitch in time saves nine”. This book consists of areas and methods by which cost reduction can be achieved in order to make the industry profitable. This book will create a sense of cost-saving and ownership which helps in curtailing the operating costs. We frequently hear a lot about Airlines going into financial distress, thanks to the challenging business model. Also, primarily the reason behind every Airliner taking a keen interest in LEAN Business Model. Now, this has a massive and complex application on Airlines Management considering the Safety aspect. In this book, based on his Aircraft Maintenance experience Anish has made an honest attempt to outline proven measures which will eliminate the wastage without compromising the safety aspect. It is a mine of information, demonstrating simplicity and effectiveness in a one-stop. So, Airlines do not necessarily have to waste any further time in amassing the data. apart from lean methodology, this book will give a brief idea of Aviation leaders thinking, strategies to adopt while selecting the external repair agency, Contract strategy that airlines should follow. and many case studies that changes the fortune of aviation.
"And you thought the passengers were mad. Airline employees are fed up, too-with pay cuts, increased workloads and management's miserly ways, which leave workers to explain to often-enraged passengers why flying has become such a miserable experience."—New York Times, December 22, 2007When both an industry's workers and its customers report high and rising frustration with the way they are being treated, something is fundamentally wrong. In response to these conditions, many of the world's airlines have made ever-deeper cuts in services and their workforces. Is it too much to expect airlines, or any other enterprise, to provide a fair return to investors, high-quality reliable service to their customers, and good jobs for their employees?Measured against these three expectations, the airline industry is failing. In the first five years of the twenty-first century alone, U.S. airlines lost a total of $30 billion while shedding 100,000 jobs, forcing the remaining workers to give up over $15 billion in wages and benefits. Combined with plummeting employee morale, shortages of air traffic controllers, and increased congestion and flight delays, a total collapse of the industry may be coming. Is this state of affairs inevitable? Or is it possible to design a more sustainable, less volatile industry that better balances the objectives of customers, investors, employees, and the wider society? Does deregulation imply total abrogation of government's responsibility to oversee an industry showing the clear signs of deterioration and increasing risk of a pending crisis?Greg J. Bamber, Jody Hoffer Gittell, Thomas A. Kochan, and Andrew von Nordenflycht explore such questions in a well-informed and engaging way, using a mix of quantitative evidence and qualitative studies of airlines from North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Up in the Air provides clear and realistic strategies for achieving a better, more equitable balance among the interests of customers, employees, and shareholders. Specifically, the authors recommend that firms learn from the innovations of companies like Southwest and Continental Airlines in order to build a positive workplace culture that fosters coordination and commitment to high-quality service, labor relations policies that avoid long drawn-out conflicts in negotiating new agreements, and business strategies that can sustain investor, employee, and customer support through the ups and downs of business cycles.
Engine Health Management (EHM) is a comprehensive maintenance service offered by engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) to its airline customers. In its current form, engine performance is monitored through recorded physical metrics, such as gas temperature, pressure, and altitude, taken as single snapshots at various phases of flight. The advent of the Enhanced Flight Data Acquisition, Storage and Transmission (eFASTTM) system, which allows for near-continuous recording of engine metrics, provides Full-Flight Data Analytics (FFDA) that may proactively alert and recommend maintenance activity to airlines. Adopting eFASTTM may help avoid Adverse Operational Events (AOE) caused by unexpected engine failures and the associated cost burdens. With respect to operating cost, airlines standardly report Cost Per Available Seat Mile (CASM) and Cost Per Block Hour (CBH). EHM services that prevent operational disruptions can help airlines reduce these unit-cost metrics, whose scrutiny by industry analysts affect investment guidance, stock performance, and overall business outlook. In this study, the value of FFDA services to airlines is investigated on the International Aero Engines V2500, a mature engine with customers' operational histories well-documented. Using a Poisson distribution to model the occurrence of six operational disruption types-Inflight Shutdown, Aircraft-On-Ground, Aborted Takeoff, Air Turn-Back, Ground Turn-Back, and Delay/Cancellation-the cost savings potential is quantified as a function of events avoided by a hypothetical FFDA service. Airline Form 41 financial data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics is then used to estimate the magnitude of savings on CASM and CBH retroactively for 2012-16. Results show that unit cost reductions of 0.5% to 1.5% are possible through engine event avoidance, representing savings up to $104M annually, but outcomes are highly dependent on assumptions about cost of operational disruptions for each individual carrier. Overall, a baseline model and procedure is developed for valuating FFDA and associated EHM services. Further collaboration between airlines and Pratt & Whitney on data availability and accuracy will help refine this model, which is the first to bridge publicly available airline costs with engine history data, helping stakeholders transition to an eFASTTM ecosystem that promises greater operational efficiency and safety.
The aviation industry has seen dramatic changes in the past two decades with significant growth during the 1990s; a significant industry disruptive event on September 11, 2001; and an economic decline resulting in a sharp rise in fuel prices that has substantially changed the economics of airline operations and a decline in growth. During this period, airlines have adapted to the changes in various ways, many of which have resulted in adaptability issues for airport operators, thus raising the question of "is there a better way" to be more flexible and responsive to airline service changes in good and bad times. From an airline perspective, cost reduction since September 11 has been a prominent focus. From an airport operator perspective, adapting to and accommodating changing flight services by incumbent carriers as well as new entrant services has been a key focus. In recent years, offering more cost-effective solutions to retain or encourage new services in the face of service reductions has become a key focus. Airport operator interests in common use have been heightened by the potential for achieving a reasonable balance between airline and airport operator interests. The implications of transitioning from a traditional model (of airline facility use and leasing focused on dedicated facilities) to common use has elicited varying and, often, conflicting perceptions of benefit and cost.
Competition in air transport has been transformed by industry liberalization initiatives, resulting in the emergence of a wide array of new airline start-ups. Restrictions on low fares have been removed, uniform control requirements have been established, and legislation has facilitated the proliferation of low-fare carriers and competition. The new breed of independent low-fare airlines (LFAs) use market freedoms to shake up the industry's competitive dynamics and offer the customer the alternative of low prices and basic service. A successful low fare business model requires a ruthless and relentless focus on cost cutting and increased operational productivity, combined with an ability to generate and maintain a cash surplus and a cautious but steady fleet and route network expansion. The mastery of these techniques has made Southwest and Ryanair industry leaders, but others such as EasyJet also have a proven record of profitability and market growth, despite not always being the lowest cost or price providers. In this comprehensive and topical study the author systematically provides: · a step-by-step approach to understanding the conditions and choices shaping airline competitiveness, and an assessment of the nature of the low fare market · a comprehensive study of the low fare airline sector's evolution and growth and arguments as to why the European low fare industry is here to stay despite the inevitability of a shake out (reminiscent of the early 1980s in the USA). · unique insights into the success of low fare market leaders in Europe, North America and Australasia and an examination of the experience of US new entrants in the post-deregulations era, to discern strategic lessons for their counterparts; · critical perspectives on strategic management principles and practices in modern airline companies, discussing strategies for survival, and comparing competitive strategies for the main low fare airlines and their limitations; · key reasons for the robustness of the low fare business model during industry crises The book also determines the conditions and strategies that shape sustainable advantage for LFAs in highly competitive deregulated markets where established airlines seek to force out new entrants and considerable political interference remains. Moreover, the book considers why, during the airline industry crisis of late 2001, the market capitalizations of low fare leaders held steady in the wake of the US terrorist attacks, while the major carriers on both sides of the Atlantic were decimated. Cleared for Take-Off is essential reading for airline executives, aerospace manufacturers, regulatory and government transportation agencies, researchers or students of aviation management, transport studies, the travel industry and/or corporate strategy.