The savings an operator can achieve, or the extra costs to avoid, when it comes to reducing fatigue risk most effectively, spring from the crew pairing and roster construction phases. In these two phases of the crew management process, the context of each and every flight is decided, i.e. the work/rest history leading in to those flights. That context will predict the amount of wakefulness, prior sleep debt and circadian disruption that crew will need to deal with in addition to the flight duty itself. Did you know that more than 90% of the planned context typically remains unchanged throughout the operation?
Crew pairing and roster planning is done by industry-strength optimizers for all but the smallest operators. But how do these optimizers work? What are the complexities involved, and how come they are still improving year after year despite being around for over 30 years now? Back by popular demand is the article where Professor Dag Wedelin, in simple terms, explains optimization for airline crew planning and how it started for Jeppesen, as well as sharing his favourite Avocado recipe. You will find the story via this link. Enjoy!
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