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Maximum passenger flexibility at check-in:
Lufthansa Systems launches innovative GroundSolutions Platform
Who would not like to check-in for a flight with their own cell phone, or to decide already at home where to sit on board the aircraft? Would it not be nice to spend time more effectively than queuing in line at the check-in counter? Multi-channel check-in is the solution for airlines to offer passengers a new level of flexibility.
Everyday about 150,000 passengers use Europe’s third largest airport at Frankfurt. Those who are departing mostly arrive two hours before their flight in order to queue up at the check-in counter. This waiting time can be largely reduced. Contrary to popular belief, passengers do have a choice when it comes to checking in: They can do so from their home or office or just anywhere on the road via internet or cell phone; or they can decide to go to the airport first and use the check-in kiosk or the counter. The airlines are also able to offer automatic check-in for defined customer groups such as VIP passengers. As a result of having a choice in access to boarding, savings in time can significantly enhance passenger satisfaction even before the flight takes off.
Many airlines rely on different IT solutions for each of their check-in processes. This results in a complex architecture of heterogeneous IT systems. Synergy effects cannot be used and interfaces and functionalities are not standardized. Moreover, this leads to a variety of different processes and procedures a passenger is confronted with. Lufthansa Systems’ new GroundSolutions platform is a means to reduce complexity for both, Airlines and passengers. Following the principle of service-oriented architecture (SOA), the platform is a clearly structured business layer which provides the airline with the complete range of multi-channel check-in modules. Within the business layer, services can be shared and need to be provided only once instead of implementing them for each single module. This helps to save considerable costs and even time and forms an ideal base for dynamic growth regardless of the check-in channel.
Desk, Boarding, Robot, Web, Mobile and Kiosk are the modules which help the airline optimize the ground and check-in processes holistically with just one provider. The airline is able to choose from the modules and can thus distinguish itself from the competition by offering those channels that suit their passengers’ preferences, or the airline’s business model. Flying can only be made faster on the ground, and the GroundSolutions platform flexibly supports the airline in this task.
The focus of the GroundSolutions platform is not merely on optimizing sole applications or specific functionality. It is on a design that allows the comprehensive and sustainable optimization of designated process solutions. Its state-of-the art technology provides a consistent application programming interface (API) for all ground solution channels, ensuring cross-channel process conformity. It has a consistent look and feel throughout the channels and integrates easily into existing IT environments. The synergies of shared business services reduce operating costs for the airline. Best of all, the solution is fully compatible with various back-end systems. The architecture of the GroundSolutions platform reduces complexity and ensures flexibility. This helps airlines attain lower costs, more efficiency and above all – happy customers.
The latest generation of crew optimizers by Lufthansa Systems
Innovative and powerful crew planning
Drawing up a crew roster is one of the most important tasks within an airline. This is not just because carriers rely on perfect crew assignment for a smooth flight operation every day, but also due to the fact that good crew rostering goes a long way towards achieving employee satisfaction. At the same time, crew planning is an extremely complex job to do. Legal restrictions, contractual obligations, crew qualifications, aircraft rotations, personal preferences, holiday entitlements and training days need to be accounted for. In addition, an airline requires an adequate number of crew standing by for last-minute changes such as colleagues calling in sick. To cope with these challenges, Lufthansa Systems has developed two new xOPT crew optimizers for its NetLine/Crew suite: NetLine/Crew Fairness xOPT and NetLine/Crew Preferences xOPT.
Crew planning is a multi-step process. Initially, anonymous rotations known as pairings are formed based on the current flight plan. In a second step, the two new optimizers assign these pairings to actual crew members. The resulting rosters contain each crew member’s working hours as well as all activities within the respective time frame which will affect planning. In the end, each crew member receives a duty roster which suits their respective employment conditions.
The ultimate goal is to create a good roster that is acceptable to crew and management alike. Crew planners can take one of two approaches to achieve this goal: the principle of equal distribution, supported by NetLine/Crew Fairness xOPT, or the preferential bidding method supported by NetLine/Crew Preferences xOPT which takes crew requests into account. It is up to each airline to decide which method to use.
The point of equal distribution is to assign each crew member the same number of flying hours, day shifts, and hotel stays, the same amount of overtime, and comparable flight destinations depending on their employment contract. Both attractive and less-popular shifts are distributed equally so that no one feels they are being treated unfairly.
Preferential bidding, on the other hand, takes account of the personal preferences of crew members. Each colleague can indicate their preferred destinations, overnight duties, layovers, work shifts, free days with particular colleagues, etc. for each planning period. This method is supported by NetLine/Crew Preferences xOPT.
However not all wishes can be granted all the time. While there are attractive shifts that everyone wants to work, there are also duties that are rather unpopular. Many airlines use the principle of seniority to solve this problem. The longer the employee has worked for the airline, the more heavily weighted their preferences will be. Other approaches consider how often an employee’s wishes have been taken into account in the past. In that case, the roster optimizers give priority to crew members with a below-average rate of wish fulfillment in recent periods.
In addition to significantly improving the quality of the rostering process, the new optimizers save a great deal of time and money for the airline. They help the planning team minimize overtime, crew transports and hotel stays, and they balance out overstaffing and understaffing at different airports. All these features are based on complex calculations. A team of highly qualified mathematicians and IT specialists at Lufthansa Systems keep further developing the NetLine/Crew suite to ensure the proper yet efficient staffing for each flight now and in the future.
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