When preparing crew rosters a number of activities (e.g. training) may be allocated in advance. This can cause challenges later in the process: Motulus are seeking to address this through the latest module of their crew scheduling software.
Optimization solutions are excellent at finding the best possible outcome for the problems they are presented with. However, sometimes the problem setup includes complexities that are unusual or unexpected. This has been a persistent issue in crew rostering. Crew optimization software is tasked with assigning flights to crew members, but occasionally it becomes impossible to allocate all flights to crew. This results in uncrewed flights, which is highly costly for airlines. Often, this issue arises because the optimizer is trying to work around activities already assigned to crew members, commonly known as pre-assignments. Some pre-assignments, like crew vacations, are fixed and cannot be altered under any circumstances. However, other pre-assignments, such as training, meetings, or courses, may have some flexibility and could potentially be scheduled at different times during the month or roster period.
This has been a longstanding challenge for crew planning teams worldwide, and it sometimes becomes apparent during an initial optimization run—a preliminary run conducted to gauge how challenging it will be to roster duties for the upcoming roster period. However, the optimization run doesn’t always pinpoint the specific issue; it simply indicates that there is a problem. For instance, on the 20th of a month, there might be several uncrewed flights, and while the planner can see that a lot of training is scheduled for those days, they may not know which specific training duties are causing the issue. This evaluation and replanning must occur within a time-critical window, as planners are obligated to publish rosters on time as part of their contracts with the crew, and sometimes as part of agreements with trade unions. As a result, training or rescheduling of flights might be done quickly, and sometimes hastily, leading to suboptimal solutions.
The time critical nature of this activity is compounded by the need to liaise with other departments. Often the pre-assigned activities will be organised or requested by other airline teams. For example the training department may have planned some of the pre-assignments under review. They may feedback that this training is crucial—it could significantly impact customer service or might be mandatory, as crew members are required to complete specific training each year. Consequently the crew planning reams and training department will work together to find a compromise, but it can be a compromise made without full visibility of the underlying issues.
At Motulus, we took this challenge seriously. We are always eager to evolve our products and solve new problems, so we spent considerable time addressing this issue, which we noticed affected all of our customers. As a result, we developed a new module called Flex Assignments. This modulus in our crew scheduling product (MCrew) is a setting in our solution designed as an analysis tool, to be used before actual roster production runs begin. It is intended to evaluate the challenges expected in the upcoming roster period.
Flex Assignments conducts an optimization run but ensures that all work is covered. It identifies the specific pre-assignments that are preventing a flight from being covered, focusing only on a subset of pre-assignments indicated by the planner. For example, crew vacation is sacrosanct and cannot be changed. The strength of this solution lies in its ability to identify the exact pre-assignments, crew members, and days that are creating challenges in flight coverage. While some pre-assignments may be critical and unchangeable, like mandatory training, in many cases, there might be some flexibility. A crew member could potentially be reassigned to a different course, a meeting could be rescheduled, or the timing of an event could be adjusted slightly. A variety of solutions might be possible, and most importantly, the crew planner knows exactly where to focus their efforts. This new functionality provides planners with better information and buys them extra time to address the challenges they will face during roster production, allowing them to concentrate on the preparation phase.
This functionality is yet another example of how Motulus continually pushes boundaries and tackles new challenges to add value for its customers.
Reach out to us if you would like to learn more.
Photo by Z on Unsplash
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