A day in the life of an aircraft operator NETWORK MANAGER USER FORUM 2014 MARTIN SEDLÁČEK SENIOR FLIGHT PLANNER
Established in 1995, HQ in London Luton 2 Air Operator Certificates - UK/EZY + Switzerland/EZS 218 aircraft - 153x A319 + 65x A320 (40% based outside UK) 22 bases - UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany and Portugal 690 routes serving 138 primary airports in 34 countries 1170 sectors per average day (1090 km/01:55 bh) 61.3 m passengers in 2013 (56% from outside UK, 18% on business) OUR AMBITION is to be Europe s preferred short-haul airline, delivering market leading returns OUR CAUSE is to make travel easy and affordable WE DELIVER low fares, operational excellence & friendly service
LONDON LGW MILAN MXP LONDON LTN GENEVA BRISTOL PARIS CDG BERLIN SXF LONDON STN MANCHESTER BASEL LIVERPOOL EDINBURGH SOUTHEND PARIS ORY ROME FCO LYON BELFAST LISBON GLASGOW NEWCASTLE TOULOUSE NICE HAMBURG NAPLES
OPERATIONS PHILOSOPHY SAFETY UNDERPINS EVERYTHING WE DO DYNAMICS STRATEGICAL fleet, network, seasonality TACTICAL route optimization, irregularities handling SIMPLICITY AND AUTOMATION Fleet/crew commonality, connecting dots in network IT systems on-line booking, flight planning EFFICIENCY 25 min turnaround (A319/156Y), aircraft utilization 11 BH/day Strict procedure adherence and cost control CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ON-TIME PERFORMANCE (89%)
COSTS AND MARGINS FOR ERRORS 1 minute of delay (industry data/network carriers) 60-70 CTOT avoidance - significant rerouting 200 500 900 Refreshment delays over 2h 500 + EC261/2004 Compensations 35.000 +
FLIGHT PLANNING PROCESS Flight plan (FPL) is filed up to 12 hours before EOBT All calculations are done without human intervention, dispatchers (3 per shift/1400 flights) deal only with exceptions, special requests etc. System takes into consideration fuel costs time costs AUP/UUP ATC charges weather RAD 90% of city pairs over 03:00 / 70% over 01:30 fully optimized, cheapest option automatically filed We have internal procedures to identify anomalies, however feedback from crews and ANSPs is vital FPLs are recalculated 2-3 hours before crew report Same track, but optimized flight levels, runways, SID/STARs Trial hasn t proved significant benefits in new track calculation Crews currently print all Operational Flight Plans of the duty (2-6)
OPS day finally starts with Network News = 1600Z D-1 Final strategies outlined, but FPLs filed as usual The preparation process is continuous and never ending cooperation with all internal and external partners No night operations First wave = 200+ simultaneous departures (OTP!!!) Our Flight Plans always reflect reality EOBTs are updated 2-3 hours in advance (possible aircraft changes) Roughly the same time most active in rerouting flights (CTOT avoidance) Aircraft change = immediate FPL update, also possible route adjustment WE FILE ONLY WHAT WE INTEND TO FLY AND CANCEL IMMEDIATELY, FCM requirement, especially during disruptions = BIG complication for us
DISRUPTION MANAGEMENT Intent to operate full schedule whenever possible Re-schedulings preferred to cancellations (seat load factor 89%) Positioning aircraft from another base or operational rerouting if suitable Effect of increased speed in delay mitigation is limited (and expensive) Each decision considers immediate (extra) costs, customer experience, and impact on the following flying programme Thorough (pre-)planning is essential Recovery far more difficult than shutdown, specific flights protection Expectations of our customers are changing
ATC delays are monitored continuously and pro-actively, re-routing process is very dynamic Example: LGW-ACE EOBT 07:40 Filed 23:00 Re-routed 04:50 & 05:20 ( 500+) All flights with CTOT < 3H in ready status (REA) at EOBT ACARS/datalink connectivity (whole fleet/network) = ability to deliver new Operational Flight Plan and uplink new route into FMS anytime up to CTOT time
AtFM related delays in 2013 9 m passengers experienced delay due to codes 81-84 & 89 Most problems at Geneva airport, Brest and London sectors Some problematic areas may not be in statistics (Cyprus - reroutings) Average en-route delay per operated flight = 0.55 min, NM/SES performance target for 2014 = 0.5 min Saving one hour of code 81 per day = can we stretch targets/save more? # REASON FOR DELAY TTL DLY [HOURS] EVENTS DLY/EVENT [MIN] DLY/DAY [HOURS] 81 ATC EN ROUTE CAPACITY 3981 15660 15 10:54 89 RESTRICTIONS AT DEP AIRPORT 2851 40000 4 07:48 82 ATC STAFF/EQUIPMENT/IND.ACTION 706 635 67 01:56 83 ATC RESTRICTION AT DESTINATION 193 405 29 00:31 84 ATC DUE WEATHER AT DESTINATION 112 337 20 00:18
INTERACTION WITH NM/ANSPs CHALLENGES and opportunities Airlines NM ANSPs Airports CFSPs Positive communication, mutual trust and thorough understanding of systems and processes is essential in improving safety and operational efficiency Automation increases scope for misunderstanding Overcoming challenges together Helpdesk / IFPS customer orientated approach We never cheat but always search for effective solutions Need for better understanding of user s constraints (bases with curfew) Excellent cooperation with Flight Domain/Investigation thank you! We encourage all partners to visit us in our OCC in London Luton
Network Management & ANSPs proactivity Shifting regulations predictability during dynamic rerouting (FRA?) Airport (weather) closures management Often chaotic / contradicting no single approach / source Scenarios last manual process in our Flight Planning Many issued last moment, replacing systematic solutions Profiles and time issues in IFPS ENV database NOP vs CHMI where are we going? NOP Headline News email subscription service please Minutes from Teleconferences (and better control) Ideal platform(s) for A-CDM we need a one stop shop AOWIR availability until CTOT time OPPORTUNITY INDICATOR SAVING 200/AFFECTED FLIGHT!
FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES We need efficient route structure with minimum restrictions and dynamic, fair and pro-active flow management FRA, UDPP, STAM, Opportunity Indicator or Efficiency Reports are definitely steps in the right direction. The sooner, the better easyjet is involved in many projects directly or via ELFAA/A4 (SESAR PCP, SWIM 4D, DMAN/AMAN, CDO/CCO, CPDLC ) We want to cooperate, share and exchange data and be involved in trials, plan more contact with ANSPs in 2014 We are working hard to be dynamic and efficient. However there is always room for further improvements. Even small savings have a BIG impact on 430 000 flights/year!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION MARTIN.SEDLACEK@EASYJET.COM