Visualization of airline flight schedules

• US 20070219833A1
• Filed: 03/20/2006
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Trautman, Philip
• Granted Patent: US 7,912,742 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management

Abstract

A method for visualizing airline flight schedules graphically simulates the effect of a program implemented in airline flight operations to reduce the effect of disruptions in scheduled airline flights. One or more disruptions are introduced into a pre-selected airline flight schedule, using frequency distributions of disruptions and disruption severities, resulting in a disrupted flight schedule that reflects both initial and propagated delays. The disrupted flight schedule is used to visually simulate flight operations in 4-D, allowing comparisons of “as is” and “what if” scenarios.

Claims

1. A method of visualizing commercial airline flight operations based on aircraft flight schedules, comprising the steps of:

(A) selecting an airline flight schedule representing scheduled aircraft flights;

(B) introducing at least one initial flight disruption into the flight schedule selected in step (A);

(C) generating “

as is”

airline operations information reflecting the disruption introduced in step (B), and “

what if”

airline operations information reflecting corrective action taken in response disruption;

(D) visually simulating airline operations using on the ‘

as is’

information generated in step (C); and

,

(E) visually simulating airline operations using the “

what if”

information generated in step (C).

2. The method of claim 1, including the step of introducing into the flight schedule selected in step (A), at least one additional disruption caused by initial disruption, and wherein the airline operations visually simulated in steps (D) and (E) each reflect the additional disruption.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (B) includes:

producing for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule statistical data representing a frequency distribution of disruptions, and a frequency distribution of flight disruption severity.

4. The method of claim 3, including the step of generating a disrupted airline flight schedule using the flight schedule selected in step (A), and the statistical data produced for each flight leg.

5. The method of claim 1, including the step of graphically displaying, in juxtaposed relationship, the “

as is”

airline operations information and the “

what if”

airline operations information generated in step (C).

6. The method of claim 3, including the step of graphically displaying a matrix showing the delay of each aircraft flight for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule.

7. The method of claim 1, including the steps of:

(F) introducing additional disruptions into the selected flight schedule that represent a propagation of the initial disruption; and

,

(G) determining the additional cost incurred in the airline operations resulting from the initial and additional disruptions.

8. The method of claim 1, including the steps of:

(F) calculating airline operating costs using “

as is”

airline operations information; and

,

(G) calculating airline operating costs using “

what if”

airline operations information.

9. A method of visualizing commercial airline flight operations having disrupted aircraft flight schedules, comprising the steps of:

(A) selecting an airline flight schedule having scheduled flights for a plurality of aircraft;

(B) introducing an initial flight disruption into the flight schedule selected in step (A);

(C) generating a first set of airline operations data representing the effect on airline flight operations of the initial flight disruption introduced in step (B);

(D) proposing an operations solution to reduce the effect of the initial disruption on airline flight operations;

(E) generating a second set of airline operations data representing the effect on airline flight operations of the use of the solution proposed in step (D); and

,

(F) displaying a graphical comparison of the first and second sets of data respectively generated in steps (C) and (E).

10. The method of claim 9, including the step of generating a visual simulation of airline operations using at least one of the first and second sets of airline operations data.

11. The method of claim 9, including the step of determining propagated disruptions in the selected flight schedule caused by the initial disruption, and wherein the graphical comparison displayed in step (F) reflects the propagated disruptions.

12. The method of claim 10, including the step of determining propagated disruptions in the selected flight schedule caused by the initial disruption, and wherein the visual simulation reflects the propagated disruptions.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein step (B) includes producing for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule, statistical data representing a frequency distribution of disruptions, and a frequency distribution of flight disruption severity.

14. The method of claim 13, including the step of generating a disrupted airline flight schedule using the flight schedule selected in step (A), and the statistical data produced for each flight leg.

15. The method of claim 13, including the step of graphically displaying a matrix showing the delay of each aircraft flight for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule.

16. The method of claim 9, including the steps of:

(G) introducing additional disruptions into the selected flight schedule that represent a propagation of the initial disruption; and

,

(H) determining the additional cost incurred in the airline operations resulting from the initial and additional disruptions.

17. A method of graphically simulating the effect of a program implemented in airline flight operations to reduce the effect of disruptions in scheduled airline flights, comprising the steps of:

(A) selecting an airline flight schedule representing scheduled aircraft flights;

(B) introducing at least one initial flight disruption into the flight schedule selected in step (A);

(C) visually simulating airline flight operations based on the disrupted flight schedule;

(D) selecting a program for reducing the effect of the disruption on flight operations; and

,

(E) visually simulating airline flight operations reflecting implementation of the program selected in step (D).

18. The method of claim 17, including the step of determining propagated disruptions in the selected flight schedule caused by the initial disruption, and wherein the visual simulations in steps (C) and (E) each reflect the propagated disruptions.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein step (B) includes producing for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule, statistical data representing a frequency distribution of disruptions, and a frequency distribution of flight disruption severity.

20. The method of claim 17, including the step of graphically displaying a matrix showing the delay of each aircraft flight for each flight leg in the selected flight schedule.

21. The method of claim 17, including the step of graphically displaying, in juxtaposed relationship, data representing airline flight operations based on the disrupted flight schedule, and data representing airline flight operations reflecting the use of the program selected in step (D).

22. The method of claim 17, including the steps of:

(F) calculating the cost of airline flight operations based on the disrupted flight schedule; and

,

(G) calculating the cost of airline flight operations based on use of the program selected in step (D).

23. The method of claim 17, including the steps of:

(F) calculating the time length of flight delays resulting from the disruptions in the selected flight schedule; and

,

(G) calculating the time length of flight delays resulting from the disruptions based on use of the program selected in step (D).