Airline Business

The Optima Airline business, working closely with The University of Auckland, has very successfully developed crew rostering and scheduling solutions that save significant time and money.

Air New Zealand is a major customer of the Optima Airline business. Over the past 15 years, eight optimization-based computer systems have been developed to solve all aspects of the crew scheduling processes for both the airline's national and international operations. This work has been recognized internationally, with Air New Zealand and Optima being a finalist in the international Franz Edelman "Expertise in Management Science" competition, alongside IBM and Ford.

The result of these solutions has been savings of $NZ 15 million per annum while providing crew with more favorable roster preferences.

Optima's extensive work at Air New Zealand produced the "Global Pairings Optimizer", an optimization solution for airline crew management.

Global Pairings Optimizer

The Global Pairings Optimizer is a software system for optimally scheduling airline crew. The system calculates the set of pairings which will ensure the appropriate crew members are assigned to every flight at minimum cost to the airline.

Crew costs account for approximately 30% of an airline's operational costs namely salaries, overtime, accommodation costs, and meal allowances. Using software solutions, the reported crew cost savings are 2-8 percent over manual solutions, translating into millions of dollars saved annually.

The Global Pairings Optimizer can also be used to determine the most efficient numbers of crew to assign to each crew base and it can be used during contract negotiations to investigate the costs of various industrial proposals.

The Global Pairings optimizer enables an airline to:

• Minimize costs
• Develop operationally robust solutions
• Conduct basing analysis and base balancing
• Provide flexible user control over solutions
• Evaluate alternative rostering scenarios
• Manage compliance with staffing rules
• Provide detailed management reporting

In Optima's experience the use of this solution significantly reduces business running costs and improves efficiency for airlines.

Robust Scheduling

In January 2008 Optima completed a Robust Scheduling project for Air New Zealand. Based on some outstanding research from The University of Auckland this project has resulted in significant performance improvements in the fleets to which it has been applied.

Delays are inevitable in the airline industry, often due to technical faults or inclement weather. Robust scheduling reduces the impact of delayed flights on the rest of an airline's schedule. It considers the potential impact of delays at the planning stage, and uses advanced optimization to ensure the planned pairings are robust and cost efficient. When delays occur, the financial impact and time delays on the airline and its passengers are minimized.

Continued Research

Optima continues to enhance its existing and develop new solutions with close cooperation with the engineering science department of the University of Auckland.