AUGUST 2020AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM8In My OpinionSTAYING AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: HOW TAIL PLANNING CAN ENHANCE MRO & FLEET MANAGEMENT FOR AIRLINESBy Kevin Deal, VP, North America, Aerospace & Defense, IFSCommercial aviation market figures are staggering. In its current outlook, Boeing predicts orders for nearly 40,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years valued at $5.9 trillion. Much of the boom in passenger demand and fleet expansion is being driven by airlines in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, which are witnessing year-on-year air passenger demand of over 10 percent eclipsing the growth in demand of carriers in North America and Europe. As Kevin Deal, Vice President, North America, for Aerospace & Defense at IFS explains, there are new solutions that provide airline operators with a better way of working to combat aircraft planning and maintenance challenges as fleet schedules become more complex. All airlines face pressure to increase efficiency by sweating airframe assets. But, it's a complex issue how do planners optimize aircraft allocation while coping with unexpected operational changes and unscheduled maintenance? A typical airline will have an aircraft allocation team on this chore, spending some 3-4 hours to prepare a single one day optimized plan. But, tightly planned schedules can quickly be thrown out of kilter by last-minute changes. Add in weather, airport delays, or engine failures and airline operations can soon become jeopardized.The Elements of Planning The utilization and optimization of a fleet involves a number of interrelating factors which need to be balanced and reconciled to produce a cost and asset-efficient schedule. For example, long term maintenance, destination-based constraints and aircraft restrictions need to be factored in to route scheduling, not to mention the unscheduled, short- and mid-term maintenance requirements that must also be managed compliantly. At the same time, elements such as fleet allocation, flight frequency, and seat planning must Kevin Deal
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