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The Integrated Operations Control Center (IOCC) Platform takes airline operations to new heights of efficiency
Airline operations is a complex business. Keeping aircraft departing and arriving on schedule requires a complex day-to-day, hour-to-hour operations control. Even small disruptions can have severe financial and organizational impacts if not tackled early and in the most efficient way. Lufthansa Systems has developed a comprehensive solution to speed-up the decision making process and at the same time enhance the quality of the decisions made. The Integrated Operations Control Center (IOCC) Platform is the first integrated IT platform able to control and monitor all aspects of airline operations which are closely interlinked in practice, including schedule management, operations control, crew management, flight planning and weight & balance.
The IOCC Platform simplifies an airline’s business processes without limiting its flexibility. It enhances the airline’s ability to react fast and with a view to the overall company good. When dealing with irregularities caused by adverse weather conditions, congested airspace or technical problems the IOCC allows an airline to see things from every angle. How many passengers might miss their connecting flights? What is the impact on the rotation of the airplanes? How does it affect the availability and the duty time of crews? What are the additional costs? As the IOCC Platform integrates all relevant information it is possible to quickly compare different scenarios and to find the optimum solution. And even in routine operation having the big picture leads to better decision and increased efficiency. As a consequence, the platform provides a strong savings potential through a combination of operational enhancements.
The idea behind the IOCC Platform is to stay ahead of the curve and to deal with upcoming irregularities proactively. The operations processes are all covered by the five IOCC Components, IOCC/Sched, IOCC/Crew, IOCC/Ops, IOCC/Flight and IOCC/Load. They are based on market-leading products from the Lufthansa Systems portfolio, which are already in service with more than 80 airlines. But rather than just putting them together and adding some interfaces, the IOCC goes further. All components communicate via the IOCC Integration Layer, which enables the information flow among the components. This architecture ensures system stability and a high degree of consistency of the operational data.
A key element is the Integrated Control Panel (ICP). As a dash board it provides a real-time overview of indicators showing the operational performance of the airline. This is where irregularities are identified as they emerge, so the operations control team can assess various alternatives for action and can initiate the most efficient one. In case of a crew coming in late for example it might be better to activate a stand-by crew instead of delaying an upcoming flight, because this would limit the impact on the overall operations and minimize cost.
There is a compelling business case behind this approach. Customer scenarios based on actual data show that a mid-sized network airline with a fleet of 90 aircraft can improve its result by up to 31.8 million US dollar per year using the IOCC Platform. In this scenario, optimized crew management alone can save around 10 million dollars. In addition, airlines using IOCC/Flight can benefit from extra fuel savings of up to 5 percent through optimized route planning. Because of its fast amortization it is a good investment even in difficult times. Depending on individual circumstances, airlines can see a return on investment as soon as one year after the first components have gone into operation.
Planning ETOPS flights with Lufthansa Systems’ Lido/Flight and just a few mouse clicks
When 25 years ago the first airlines started to use twin-engine aircraft for revenue flights across the Atlantic, this was a revolution in air travel. With these smaller jets it was profitable to bypass the big hubs and to serve secondary airports directly saving the passengers time and money. Today "Extended Twin-Engine Operations" (ETOPS) rank among the safest and most reliable of all flight operations. Lido/Flight, the flight planning solution of Lufthansa Systems, helps airlines around the world to operate these flights in the most economical way.
As twinjets like the Airbus A330 or the Boeing 767 and 777 offer significant advantages in terms of operating cost, ETOPS flights have become the predominant mode of transatlantic flights. They are increasingly popular across the Pacific as well and even on polar flights between the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Every day some 2.000 ETOPS flights arrive at their destination. Many of them have been calculated with Lido/Flight.
On normal flights aircraft have to fly routes, which keep them within 60 minutes to the next suitable airport at single-engine speed and in case of cabin pressure loss at reduced altitude. ETOPS flights are allowed to be up to 240 minutes away. When doing this they have to follow strict rules. The aircraft and its engines have to be certified for this type of operation, the aircraft needs special equipment, the airline itself must be certified and the crew needs to undergo a special training. And finally the airline is required to use a flight planning solution which is able to optimize the route in line with ETOPS criteria.
Lido/Flight automatically optimizes ETOPS flights according to the individual certificate of an airline, whether it is for example allowed to operate flights under a 120-minute rule or the more demanding 180-minute rule. Within the ETOPS part of every flight Lido/Flight draws "time circles" around the selected alternate airports, showing from which points they could be reached in 60 minutes or within the applicable ETOPS rule. It automatically checks NOTAMs, runway availability, operating hours of the airport and local weather. The dispatcher is able to see immediately whether it is possible to operate this flight as planned or whether he has to select other alternate airports. By observing these airports and the ETOPS rules Lido/Flight will then calculate the most efficient route for the flight. It is the only system on the market which can do this automatically. This feature is especially important for airlines with regular ETOPS flights.
More than 20 airlines around the world are using the ETOPS features of Lido/Flight every day, among them leading carriers like British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. Because of its efficient high-quality dispatch process and the fuel saving optimization of every single flight it helps them to save cost on the ground as well as in the air.
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