This weeks product feature looks out the MCrew minimize crew function. A setting that enables planners to understand the lowest number of crew they need to operate a schedule.
How many crew do I need? This is a question often asked by crew planners; or to crew planners. At Motulus, we have a function as part of our MCrew crew rostering optimizer that allows the planners to answer just that question. The Minimize Crew button will create rosters with the fewest number of crew possible.
Normally, when producing rosters, MCrew (alongside other rostering tools) will distribute the flying, reserve and ground duties amongst all the crew: that may be on a strict seniority basis or on a fair share basis. If the Minimize Crew option is selected then MCrew will only use the number of crew it needs to cover all of the duties, naturally legal and company rules as well as best practice are still adhered to.
This approach can tactically support manpower planning calculations and can be accurate as it has a consideration for the pre-assignments already on rosters. Albeit the airline may be happy having operating with a greater number of crew as that extra buffer allows the chance to build more robust rosters or to satisfy crew lifestyle requests.
Photo by kris on Unsplash
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