We recently explored the Jeppesen Crew Pairing (JCP) solution and spoke with Mattias Lindqvist, Product Manager for JCP, about how crew pairing can extend beyond just meeting immediate production needs. Here’s what he shared with us.
Mattias, I thought a pairing optimizer was only used to build pairings for the upcoming period, given a flight schedule. Are you saying there’s more to it?
-Absolutely. Best practices include crew planning departments actively collaborating with commercial planning, influencing scheduling decisions that are important for crew efficiency and well-being. Strategic decision support is crucial at this stage, as the flight schedule forms the foundation for what can or cannot be achieved in later parts of the planning process.
But aren’t most commercial departments already considering crew needs when they set the schedule for an upcoming period or season?
-They try to, but they often rely on basic tools, principles, or past experience which may fall short–especially when there are structural changes. For instance, if the fleet composition or destinations change, predicting how best to incorporate crew needs can be very challenging. Their primary focus, understandably, is revenue generation, while ensuring basic feasibility for both fleet and crew.
So how does JCP fit into this process to find a more fine-tuned solution?
-When Crew Planning analyzes a flight schedule the Pairing tool offers a range of capabilities for more accurate decision making, from the ability to evaluate weekly to seasonal schedules as-is, to tools like Re-timing and Dynamic Aircraft Rotations (DAR) –where the optimizer will help and suggest changes to the schedule for an improved crew operations. Re-timing allows commercial departments to set an allowable interval for each flight’s departure time, within which it can move without disrupting passenger connections or other constraints. Even small adjustments can open up new connecting options for the crew. In re-timing mode, JCP can then gently ‘shake’ the flight schedule in real time while the crew pairings are being built. The optimizer finds the combination of departure time adjustments that best improve whatever is prioritized in the objective function, such as buffers to regulatory rules, crew efficiency, cost, or even crew fatigue risk.
Got it! So, what about DAR?
-DAR is similar but focuses on the aircraft rotations. The commercial team might initially plan for a specific aircraft to operate flight A and then B. With DAR, we can unlock efficiencies by, for instance, having Flight C follow Flight A instead. These adjustments, while respecting all aircraft constraints, allow crew to stay with the aircraft more often, which improves robustness and adds efficiency. Crew members who stay on the same aircraft generally need less connection time than those switching planes. Also this is done in real-time during pairing optimization.
Fantastic. Can these two capabilities, three counting BAM, be used also simultaneously?
-Absolutely, they all integrate seamlessly. These are strategic adjustments aimed at refining the flight schedule and fleet planning further in advance. When the optimizer suggest the departure times for numerous flights, it does require a bit more processing time, but it is clearly manageable.
This is fascinating! Next on my list is understanding JCP more in-depth is something you call Calibration. Who should I reach out to for that?
-I recommend you speak to Karolin Ekstrand, one of our experts in that field.
Thank you, Mattias. Will do!
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