Tag: United

OM in the News: Airlines and the Winter Storms

Workers at Boston's Logan Airport faced a mountain of snow last week
Workers at Boston’s Logan Airport faced a mountain of snow last week

As we discuss in the Global Company Profile on Delta Airlines that opens Chapter 15, airlines have made rapid improvement in storm recovery. Using new tricks, techniques and conservative strategies to position airplanes and employees before storms hit, flights can resume quickly as soon as runways clear. The change is a reaction to stiffer regulations, including stronger rules on pilot rest, and customer outrage on tarmac delays.

New software in use at several big airlines reschedules crews in minutes, sparing dispatchers hours of manual puzzle-solving, reports The Wall Street Journal (Feb.5, 2015). Last week, United got planes back into its Newark, N.J., hub and other Northeast airports on Tuesday night and was back at full strength by Wednesday afternoon, using only 11 reserve pilots. In past storms, that number would have been in the hundreds. The airline keeps 15-18% of its 10,000 pilots on reserve duty to fill in when pilots get sick or delays throw off schedules. United, like other airlines, sometimes ran out of reserve pilots and flights would have to be canceled days later in sunny weather.

United has long used software to reschedule planes, then given dispatchers the task of manually finding available crews. But this time, a new computer program rescheduled pilots sidelined by snow. “That optimization is so beautiful,” says United’s VP. “Last year, we had multiple events where the recovery dragged on for days.”

Airlines say tarmac-delay rules, where the government imposes big penalties on carriers for leaving passengers marooned on grounded airplanes, have forced them to avoid the risk of flying close to the storm. Shutting down early turns out to be better for passengers and airlines. Fewer passengers get stranded at airports because they never start trips or know ahead of time they won’t get home so they avoid the airport. United actually ferried 7 planes empty into Newark Tuesday afternoon so they’d be ready for early-morning departures Wednesday. By 4 p.m. Wednesday Boston was back to normal.

Classroom discussion questions:

1. Why is the airline operations center so critical during weather disruptions?

2. What does optimization software do for the airlines?

OM in the News: Speeding Up the Airline Boarding Process

airline arrival rates“The forecast calls for heavy frustration with a 50% chance of innovation at U.S. airports this summer,” writes The Wall Street Journal (May 23,2013). Airport crowds are expected to be the largest in the U.S. since 2008. There’s already concern that budget cuts in TSA overtime will lead to longer security-screening lines. But travelers will find new boarding procedures at both United and American airlines that pack planes faster. The idea is to increase the percent of flights that arrive within 15 minutes of schedule, currently around 76%.

In an effort to get more flying out of planes and crews, a topic we discuss in Chapter 15, United is introducing new boarding lanes at gate areas this summer. Five different boarding groups will line up in different areas, akin to how Southwest lines up customers by groups, so that instead of a crush of people pushing toward the gate, each group will have a designated place to wait. After elite-level customers, the rest of the coach cabin will board window-seat passengers first, then middle seats, and aisle seats last. With the “Wilma” system, as United calls it, seats fill faster because people already seated don’t have to get up as much to let a row mate in. United says Wilma boarding is about 20% faster than boarding from the rear of the plane to the front.

American set its own new change in boarding this month. It joined Alaska Airlines in offering early boarding to customers who don’t have large carry-on bags. American offers Group 2 boarding, right after elite-level frequent fliers, to passengers without overhead-bin luggage. American tested the idea in seven cities earlier this year and found getting people without overhead bin luggage on early sped up boarding time and improved on-time arrival performance.

Discussion questions:

1. Why has Southwest’s management of scheduling been so successful?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the “Wilma” system?