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
Refreshment – delays over 2h
EC261/2004 Compensations
€ 200 – € 500 – € 900
€ 500 +
€ 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
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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 DLY/DAY
[MIN]
[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
NM
ANSPs
Airports
Airlines
• Positive communication, mutual trust and
thorough understanding of systems and
processes is essential in improving safety
and operational efficiency
CFSPs
– 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?
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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