Hot Topics
Smart IT instead of full thrust
How much thrust an aircraft needs for take-off depends on many things. Among them, actual take-off weight, wind, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. Before any aircraft can start the take-off procedure, performance data must be calculated with reference to actual conditions. Some airlines ask their pilots to do so manually by using so called runway weight charts.
Lufthansa Systems has developed an automated IT solution for this task which is crucial for a safe flight. The software LinTop (Lido Integrated Take-off Performance) is a module of the flight planning system Lido Operations Center (Lido OC). The pilot only needs to send a request via DataLink. The answer he gets is a comprehensive set of optimized figures for take-off. It includes the best flap setting, optimum take-off thrust, all relevant speeds for take-off as well as the flight path in the event of an engine failure.
LinTop not only simplifies flight preparation, but helps airlines to save fuel and to increase on-wing time of their engines as it calculates the maximum reduced take-off thrust much more accurately than it would be possible manually. If a pilot does not need to use full thrust for take-off, less stress is placed on the engines, resulting in a longer on-wing time for the engine(s). This translates into significantly lower maintenance cost.
Revenue Integrity makes flying more profitable and secure
Today’s airline business is a highly competitive environment. Every dollar counts, as airlines cannot afford to forego any potential proceeds. With Revenue Integrity, Lufthansa Systems offers a tool to help reduce distribution costs, increase sales revenue and boost on-board security. The suite spots duplicate PNRs, elapsed ticketing time limits or fictitious names. It can also identify passengers based on criteria defined by authorities or the airline for security reasons.
The Revenue Integrity suite consists of three core functionalities. The Flight Firming Tool analyzes the ticketing time limits in an airline’s bookings. Its clear advantage is its compatibility with all backend systems. Experience has shown that identifying expired but not ticketed PNRs enables the release of about 50,000 seats per day at an international network carrier that can then enter the inventory again. About 10 percent of all single-segment bookings are cancelled due to expired ticketing deadlines. The system also checks for fictitious names and passive segments and processes group synchronization as optional features.
DupeCheck is the module that finds duplicate bookings and eliminates them. It identifies them within the same PNR as well as in multiple, similar bookings. The system also highlights suspicious bookings based on different airport codes within the same city as well as unrealistic connecting times. An airline can spot a five-digit figure of fake bookings per month that way, resulting in additional revenue from re-sold seats of one euro for every segment booked.
PaxWatch is the security component of the system. It identifies passengers blacklisted by immigration authorities or grounded by the airline. Automated notification of authorities is part of the solution as well as a comprehensive reporting feature.
The benefits of the Revenue Integrity suite for an airline are obvious. The tool prevents a large number of "no-shows" on an airline’s flights. As a result, the seat load factor rises significantly. Demand forecast and flight control are improved, the yield increases, and passenger satisfaction rises due to faster waitlist confirmation. For carriers flying to countries like the U.S., the tool is a perfect way to comply with official security requirements. Revenue Integrity covers the most airline standard requirements of any tool on the market. It has the most user-friendly interface, offers maximum rule flexibility and the most comprehensive checks.
A growing number of major airlines are using the tool today, including Lufthansa, Austrian, TACA, Regional Airlines, Condor and LTU. They all have realized that revenue is valuable and can always be optimized. Lufthansa Systems’s Revenue Integrity is the ideal way to increase revenue, lower costs and at the same time, gain enhanced security with a rather limited investment.
back