We have a full schedule of papers from a wide range of airline OR and analytics topics. We have posted the full list along with abstracts at: Technical Program

The two finalists that will be presenting their research at the 56th Annual Symposium are:

• Marcella Sama, Roma Tre University: Metaheuristics for efficient aircraft scheduling and re-routing at busy terminal control areas

• Michael Wittman, MIT: Customized Offers in Airline Revenue Management

Many thanks go to everyone who submitted a paper to the competition. You can still read all the submissions at Current Competition.

The list of accepted papers that will be presented at the 56th Symposium has been released and can be found at Technical Program.

If you are interested in presenting at the annual symposium, The deadline for abstracts has been extended to August 29 2016.

See the 56th Annual Symposium page for details.

For all questions, please contact Semi Gabteni at semi.gabteni@amadeus.com

You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2016 AGIFORS Symposium. Come and share with us your ideas, thoughts, practical innovations, current trends, case studies, philosophies, and latest advances on the topics which are relevant to you.

If you are interested in presenting at the study group meeting in Santiago, please complete the on-line submission form and submit it directly via the web at Symposium Presentation Request

If you have any technical problems with submitting your abstract online, please email Semi Gabteni semi.gabteni@amadeus.com with your abstract and bio information as required on the online form.

AGIFORS Symposium 2016 has been scheduled for 10-14 October 2016 in Santiago, Chile. The conference is being hosted by LATAM Airlines. This year's conference will take place at the majestic Ritz Carlton Hotel located in Santiago. The official conference website is available at 56th Annual Symposium

The standard registration fee is 500 USD per (airline, or academic) delegate, 800 USD per delegate for others. An academic delegate must be a full-time registered student, or faculty member at a recognized academic institution. An airline delegate must be employed by an IATA recognized carrier.

The daily delegate fee is 200 USD. This specially negotiated registration option is open to local delegates and for exceptional cases. A daily delegate is eligible to participating in all day time activities and social activities on a given day.

In addition there is a special social registration of 250 USD per accompanying guest (eligible to participating only in the sponsored social program). Major credit cards (American Express, MasterCard, VISA) will be accepted.

Registrations received after 5th Sep 2016 will be considered late, and subject to a 150 USD surcharge. Cancellations received after 5th Oct 2016 are subject to a 150 USD surcharge.

NO CASH OR PERSONAL CHEQUES WILL BE ACCEPTED ONSITE.

Please complete the on-line registration form. 

In addition, each delegate will be responsible for making his/her own hotel reservations in addition to the conference registration.

The AGIFORS 56th Annual Symposium has been scheduled for 10-14 October 2016.

We have a packed technical program and strong sponsorship, which should make for a wonderful conference. In addition, the finalists for the Anna Valicek Paper will compete.

Conference Overview

This year's Symposium will offer the latest innovation in airline operations research. Various topics to be discussed include airline operations, airline strategy, cargo logistics, crew scheduling, e-commerce, information technology, OR management, revenue management, robust planning, and scheduling planning. Representatives from airlines, air transport associations, universities, industrial research labs, and consultants will discuss new ideas and present technical papers. The conference includes a vendor program for you to review the latest products. Come and share with us your ideas, thoughts, current trends, philosophies, and latest technological advances on any of the above or related topics.

Who Should Attend this Conference

The AGIFORS Symposium provides an ideal forum for airline senior management, airline personnel, vendors, and members of academia to review and debate the most pressing issues facing the global airline industry today, offer potential solutions, and provide opportunity for high level networking.

• Airline executives in airline operations, cargo and logistics, crew management, revenue management and distribution, strategic and schedule planning
  
• Business Solution Managers
  
• Key Information Technology System Users
  
• Project Managers, Directors, Team Leaders
  
• Operations research practitioners and managers
  
• Software vendors in the airline information technology field
  

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact:

Goran Stojkovic

Email: Goran.Stojkovic@jeppesen.com

Submissions are now invited for the 2016 Anna Valicek graduate student paper award competition. The Anna Valicek award recognizes original and innovative research in the application of operations research to airline and/or airline related business problems.

Up to two finalists will be selected and will receive air transportation, accommodations, and registration fees to attend the Annual Symposium to be held in Santiago, Chile, to present their work. The winner will be awarded a silver medal and a U.S. $2,500 honorarium. The other finalist will be awarded a bronze medal and a U.S. $1000 honorarium.

Submissions for the 2016 Anna Valicek Award will close on July 1, 2016, 18:00 EDT. There will be no deadline extension.

Details about requirements, judging criteria and how to submit an entry can be found at Current Competition

Welcome to the new AGIFORS website. Besides a new look-and-feel, we hope that you find it easier to navigate and find the information you are seeking. In addition, the website is now fully platform friendly and can be viewed on tablets and smartphones. We are also implementing Study Group forums where you can interact with your fellow study group members. 

However, the Members section is not yet fully developed and your login will not work. You will be receiving an email early in 2016 with your new login instructions.

Please keeping coming back as we roll out new features and content.

Last year represented the first of a three-year term for AGIFORS Council members. The Council included several first-time members (Eric Ruhlin from United, Goran Stojkovic from Jeppesen, and Mirela Stojkovic from Delta). The AGIFORS Council and Study Group Chairs achieved several milestones last year. The RM Study Group held the first ever AGIFORS meeting in China. We rolled out a more consistent brand image for AGIFORS including banners, logos, and medals for Best Presentation Awards for each of the study groups. For the first time in 20 years, Tim Jacobs did not organize the Annual Symposium (he just paid for everything as treasurer). It took a team to replace Tim in the planning of our Annual Symposium, including Semi Gabteni from Amadeus as our Technical Chair, Goran Stojkovic as our Symposium Chair, Anne-Jan Beeks from KLM as our Sponsorship Coordinator, and David Foster from INFORM as our webmaster. Our Anna Valicek competition, chaired by Mirela Stojkovic, continues to be the premier student paper award in aviation.