Airline Cost Management
through
Operations Planning and Control
Airline Cost Conference Bill Johnson
Geneva August 30, 2013 1
Scope
Flight Ground
Ops Ops
Commercial
Fuel
Opns
Tech AOCM Planning
Ops
Navigation OCC
Overfly Supply Operations Network
Landing Control Planning
Chain
Charges
The focus of todays presentation
Operations Planning
To produce a plan or schedule that is operationally achievable, as
well as recoverable and amendable at lowest possible cost
Operations Control
A process to control and manage deviations from plan in a timely,
service oriented, cost efficient manner
Relationship to Operations Cost Management
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The Industry Challenge
4
Airline Operations
Few industries have to profitably manage so many moving parts
Expanding airline route and alliance marketing structures are
extremely susceptible to impact from a myriad of world events
Weather
Political
Economic
Competitive
The complexity and frequency of required planning changes and
daily operational decisions are ever increasing
Every day is an irregular operation --- from the planning phase to
the day of execution.
All of which drive Cost
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The schedule/operational model is one of the most complex
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4
Operations Planning and
Cost Management
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Where to Begin
Does the Schedule or Plan work ???
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Operations Planning - Cost Drivers
Schedule Design
Marketing Objectives / Schedule Design Complexity
Asset Management
Aircraft Assignment and Utilization
Crew Staffing, Training, and Utilization
Planning Components
Blocktime Standard
Required Ground Time and Resources
Aircraft Maintenance Requirements
Schedule Reliability Objectives
Schedule Recovery Options
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Blocktime Standard
Scheduling Variability
Type of Aircraft
Time of Day
Airport Environment
50% 50% Arrival/Departure Capacity
Airport Ground Congestion
ATC System Capability
Early On-time Late Seasonal Wind Variability
Crew Operating Policy
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Accurate Blocktimes
The Essential Building Block for the airline planning
process
Used in estimating:
How many Pilots & Flight Attendants do we need?
How much Maintenance will we require?
How the aircraft and crew patterns flow?
How the airports operate?
Passenger/baggage/crew connection times
Number of aircraft to operate the schedule reliably?
The Cost to Operate the Schedule
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Airline IRROP Cause Distribution
28% Air Traffic System
38% Weather
Air Carrier
6% Late Arrival
28%
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Delay / Reliability Analysis Program
Root Cause Analysis and Allocation of impact on
Performance
Cost
Option Analysis
resources
time
schedule adjustment
Coordinated Cost / Benefit Review
Implementation of indicated changes
Track Results
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What Costs to Measure ?
Common airline cost measures include
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Operational Cost Measures
Safety - damage, injury, lost productivity rates
Aircraft utilization per day
Crew resource utilization per schedule period
Maintenance
Reliability
Dispatch Rate
Productivity / man hours per service event
per departure
per passenger served/cargo weight handled
Revenue - % retained, lost
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Operations Function - Cost Measures
Flight Operations
block hours per pilot, pilots per aircraft
% actual hours flown vs. available hours
Technical Operations
maintenance turn-time productivity
Check yield
LLP utilization
Ground Operations
cost per station - per departure - per aircraft type
scheduled and minimum aircraft turn times (% achieved)
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How to Plan ?
Recommendation:
Integrated Operations Planning
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Integrated Ops Planning Objectives
Provide enterprise view, organizational structure, and processes
to enable collaboration between Commercial objectives and
Operational requirements in planning and scheduling
Optimize financial results from a balanced design perspective
taking into account revenue, cost, and operational performance
Enable an airline to efficiently manage and respond to changes in
global and competitive environment
Integrated Operations Planning is critical for success
in today's airline industry environment
Airline Cost Conference 30 August 2013
19
General Rule
The earlier in the planning process an airline
can "build in" the operational requirements and
infrastructure to support its commercial and
planning objectives,
the more reliably and cost effectively the
airline will perform
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Operations Control
OCC
Airline Operations Management
All airlines have some form of daily operations management
process
But, many do not fully realize the service improvement
capability and cost management potential of a pro-active,
fully integrated, collaborative, Operations Control process
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Operations Control (OCC) - Mission
Corporate business unit(s) or operational department(s)
tasked with managing and coordinating execution of the
daily airline schedule as planned
Primary goal to anticipate and minimize the performance,
service, and cost impact of irregular operations (IRROP)
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What should the OCC contribute to an airline ?
To support positive business results, an effective OCC must
Manage the Operation of the airline schedule as planned
Minimize the Impact of schedule disruptions on the airline
provide Quality Service to the maximum number of passengers
maximize Revenue Retention
direct most Cost Effective plan to return to planned schedule
Every decision, action, or inaction will significantly impact the
resulting Company performance, including
Operational
Service
and, Financial (Cost/Revenue)
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Where to begin ?
Organization/Process
Representation for every department or function which
can impact, or will be impacted by, an OCC decision
concerning the operation of the flight
Information/Communication
Comprehensive, real-time, dynamic (including revenue
and cost) to enable and enact balanced decisions
Authority
Ideally a separate reporting department (similar to
Safety) but, must have decision autonomy
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OCC IRROP Cost Management
To tactically manage daily operations and make correct business
decisions, the OCC needs good, timely, accessible information
Resource Availability Aircraft, Crew, Support
IRROP Cost
Operational crew, maintenance, services, resource utilization
Passenger lost revenue, interrupted trip expenses
Service impact customer, regulatory, Good Will
Revenue and Reservations
total $ onboard, booking class, potential for loss, market considerations
re-accommodation options / projected length of delay to destination
special circumstances (ex: high school band, cruise connection)
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IRROPS Cost Distribution
2%
10%
Revenue/Psgr
12% Crew
40%
Fuel
Labor/OT
12%
Maintenance
24% Other
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Delay Cost vs. Length of Delay
:46 - :60
min$17,000
:31 - :45 Min
$11,000 >1 hour Delay
:16 - :30
min$5,000
:01 - :15 Min
$1,000
Airline Operational Efficiency and Cost 28 Geneva - August 28-29, 2013
Management Workshop
OCC Recommendation
Develop an Operations Control Process (OCC) to support cost
management objectives and
Serve as the center of airlines operational decisions
Facilitate collaborative decisions among all affected disciplines
Support Planning for disruptions Enable pro-active action
Mitigate IROPS impact - Recover quickly Limit next day impact
Optimize for Company business objectives
Incorporate as part of an overall integrated airline planning,
performance improvement, and cost management process
Operational Efficiency & Cost Management 29 Aug 28-29, 2013
Workshop
Operations Cost Management
Are you achieving the
results you expect?
IATA Support Activities
Provide a wide range of customized services to
reduce costs and improve efficiency
KPIs, Toolsets, On-site
Benchmarks assessments
Guidance
Material Workshops
& Training
Implementation Conferences
Assistance
Self - Assessment
Key Questions to determine how to assess your airlines
cost management capability and performance
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Operations Cost Planning & Control
Is there a fully Integrated Schedule Planning process ?
Is there a process to track and validate planning components ?
Is there an effective process to manage and control / react to
daily and near-term deviations from plan ?
Is there an effective process to determine associated delay
cause and cost impact ?
Is there a focused corporate Operational Reliability or
Punctuality program and culture ?
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Summary
Effective Operations Planning and Control must
continuously seek the optimal cost-effective
balance between
operational reliability
service quality
cost management
revenue maximization
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Thank You
