AGIFORS Crew Management 2005
Technical Program

An Inexact Bundle Approach for Solving Large Scale Crew Scheduling Problems
Uwe Schelten - Lufthansa Systems
The inexact bundle and column generation algorithm is able to solve huge airline crew pairing problems. In contrast to traditional LP-approaches, the new method solve integrated and nonlinear airline scheduling problems and is an excellent basis for a workflow oriented and integrated optimization.

Briefing Process remodelling to enable the use of mobile tech Cabin Crew
James J Dulis - m2p
The Briefing Process remodelling to enable the use of mobile technology for Cabin Crew is a topic that addresses the possible reality of paperless Cabin Crew briefings as well as administration, communication and planning optimization. Before, during and after a flight either at home station or out station. Including the use of check-in kiosks to assist the crew when out station. This points out the possibility to use this channel of existing mobile communication in the form of i.e. (PDA’s and Notebooks). Dealing with operational security and safety requirements. Paper based information , forms and documents as well as the business drivers and operational processes which occur during an "Operational Lifecycle". Today, the flexibility of mobile technology could enable all Cabin Crew members to become more flexible not to mention an enormous reduction of costly paper use. This solution can prove to be an operational advantage at the HUB for Crew Planning, enabling them to receive updated and accurate data from crews throughout the network enabling them to plan pro-active rather than re-active planning.

Reducing Premium - Does it Really Reduce Costs?
Alex Burger - Qantas Airline

Reducing the non-productive expense (premium) in crew rosters is a major driver for investment in pairing systems. But how can we be sure that a reduced planned premium leads to cost savings? How do we know that a reduction in actual crew costs is a result of better planning and not due to a change in the schedule, the addition of a new route or some other influence that was not considered when the pairings were planned. More precisely, how do we convince our Finance managers and other sceptics that planned premium really is a valid KPI that can yield cost saving benefits to fund expenditure on IT. This paper examines how these questions were addressed during a recent crew systems benefits analysis at Qantas.

The Team Oriented Airline Crew Scheduling Problem
Markus P. Thiel - University of Paderborn

Independent from the chosen assignment strategy (bidline systems, personalized rostering or preferential bidding) current approaches do not consider, e.g., frequently occurring changes within daily or day-by-day team compositions. By this, in addition to documented security issues for cockpit crews, personnel rarely develop their full strength as cooperative and collaborative teams. In this work, a first interpretation of the team-oriented scheduling problem, especially for the personalized rostering of cockpit crew was examined in order to solve mid-sized instances based on a European tourist airline setting. As a result, the implied trade off curve between operational cost and teaming objectives will be discussed.

Long Haul Cabin Crew Team Crewing Initiatives
Rochelle Meehan - Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand is looking at ways in which Long Haul Cabin Crew can work in teams. There has been a long standing arrangement in which pairs of crew (spouses) have had their roster lines mirrored. These lines of work are hand built but recently the Rostering Optimiser has been extended to allow for spouses who are in the same rank to be optimised along with the rest of their crew group.  There is also a desire to split the entire crew groups up into smaller sub-groups (POD’s) to improve crew engagement and to allow better performance management processes.

Lufthansa CMS renewal Mission possible
Christoph Krueger - Lufthansa
With the project CMS2oo7 Lufthansa will implement higher core process quality and flexibility founding on a new IT infrastructure. This will include a transition from home-grown software solutions to standard business software wherever backed up by a promising business case. The presentation will provide background information, current status, the obstacles found so far and how to overcome them.

Crew Control requirements definition and solution assessment
Bernd Haeufle - m2p
"Crew Control” as an integral part of operations control provides promising potential for process optimization and the efficiency- improving standardisation and consolidation of information technology. Various system and process interfaces are resulting from the tight connection of crew control with neighbouring areas of planning and control. Therefore, the selection and implementation of the “best fit”- crew control solution has developed into a complex and high risk endeavour. The presentation introduces a turnkey Consulting approach for crew control requirements definition and solution assessment, based on a proven methodology covering all relevant aspects of solution evaluation and identification of potential optimization.

Recent Trends in Crew Planning and Scheduling at United Airlines
Balaji Ramanathan - United Airlines

Tough economic conditions have necessitated adopting new approaches to improve profit. A reduced planning horizon may accommodate improved forecasts, compensating for lack of confidence in historical data. In addition, last minute scheduling changes may incorporate emerging or evolving revenue streams. Another approach is to focus on cost reduction, manifested in the low cost operations (LCO) phenomenon. At United Airlines we are emphasizing the development of combined models and the building of more accuracy into the creation and tracking of manpower plans. We will discuss how manpower and reserve forecasting systems are extended to accommodate shorter planning horizons. We will also discuss new models for building LCO crew schedules and address how preferential bidding systems fit into the overall picture.

Crew Control Requirements Definition and Solution Assessment
Bernd Haeufle - m2p - IT Solutions

‘Crew Control’ as an integral part of operations control provides promising potential for process optimization and the efficiency-improving standardization and consolidation of information technology. Various system and process interfaces are resulting from the tight connection of crew control with neighboring areas of planning and control. Therefore, the selection and implementation of the ‘best fit’ - crew control solution has developed into a complex and high risk endeavor. This presentation introduces a turnkey consulting approach for crew control requirements definition and solution assessment, based on a proven methodology covering all relevant aspects of solution evaluation and identification of potential optimization.

Automatic crew assignment at Deutsche Lufthansa
Andreas Eufinger - Lufthansa

Development of the automatic crew-assignment in the past three years - current ploblems and issues

Flight Delay Propagation and Recovery
Russell Fletcher - American Airlines

Day-of-Operations personnel continually deal with a variety of flight delay scenarios, with many delays generating severe delay propagations throughout the balance of the day.  Current technology, however, rarely allows one to see the effects beyond the next flight as aircraft and crew resources branch to other flights at subsequent arrival stations.  And tightly-paired duty periods do not allow many downline flights room to dampen the effects of preceding delays.  We are currently developing LookAhead, a day-of-operations delay propagation tool, which allows the user complete visibility of the effects of delay decisions as well as providing recovery alternatives and what-if capabilities.

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