Airline seat inventory control method and apparatus for computerized airline reservation systems
First Claim
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1. An airline seat reservation system, comprising:
- (a) a programmed computer;
(b) data storage means, coupled to the programmed computer, for storing a database describing a flight network and seat reservation requests, the flight network comprised of a known seat capacity for each of a plurality of flight legs, a known demand distribution for each of a plurality of itinerary/fare classes, a known revenue yield for a seat reserved within each itinerary/fare class, and a booking limit for each itinerary/fare class;
(c) the programmed computer including itinerary/fare class assignment means for processing the data base describing the flight network to assign seats in a flight leg to a plurality of itinerary/fare class combinations in at least one itinerary of the flight network, the assignment means comprising;
(1) means for formulating a plurality of nonlinear equations representing a constrained optimization of an expected total revenue for the flight network and a plurality of Lagrange multipliers each representing an expected marginal seat revenue for an additional seat available on a flight leg;
(2) means for refining an initial approximation of a solution to the nonlinear equations using a Newton-Raphson iteration to provide a globally optimal set of expected marginal seat revenues and booking limits;
(d) reservation terminal means, operatively connected to the programmed computer, for entering a seat reservation request for a particular itinerary/fare class; and
(e) the programmed computer including reservation means for receiving the seat reservation request from the reservation terminal means, for accepting or rejecting the seat reservation request in accordance with the globally optimal set of expected marginal seat revenues and booking limits, for recording the seat reservation request in the data storage means, and for transmitting an electronic status signal of the seat reservation request to the reservation terminal means.
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Abstract
An airline reservation system implemented using a computer wherein reservations are controlled by a seat inventory control system. The inventory control system produces optimal reservation control using network-wide booking limits while taking into account the probabilistic nature of demand. The inventory control system, based on a concept termed Network-Based Expected Marginal Seat Revenue (EMSR), does not require the large number of variables required by the other network-based approaches, and it incorporates a probabilistic demand model without resorting to computationally intractable integer programming.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. An airline seat reservation system, comprising:
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(a) a programmed computer; (b) data storage means, coupled to the programmed computer, for storing a database describing a flight network and seat reservation requests, the flight network comprised of a known seat capacity for each of a plurality of flight legs, a known demand distribution for each of a plurality of itinerary/fare classes, a known revenue yield for a seat reserved within each itinerary/fare class, and a booking limit for each itinerary/fare class; (c) the programmed computer including itinerary/fare class assignment means for processing the data base describing the flight network to assign seats in a flight leg to a plurality of itinerary/fare class combinations in at least one itinerary of the flight network, the assignment means comprising; (1) means for formulating a plurality of nonlinear equations representing a constrained optimization of an expected total revenue for the flight network and a plurality of Lagrange multipliers each representing an expected marginal seat revenue for an additional seat available on a flight leg; (2) means for refining an initial approximation of a solution to the nonlinear equations using a Newton-Raphson iteration to provide a globally optimal set of expected marginal seat revenues and booking limits; (d) reservation terminal means, operatively connected to the programmed computer, for entering a seat reservation request for a particular itinerary/fare class; and (e) the programmed computer including reservation means for receiving the seat reservation request from the reservation terminal means, for accepting or rejecting the seat reservation request in accordance with the globally optimal set of expected marginal seat revenues and booking limits, for recording the seat reservation request in the data storage means, and for transmitting an electronic status signal of the seat reservation request to the reservation terminal means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A yield management system, comprising:
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(a) a programmed computer; (b) data storage means, coupled to the programmed computer, for storing a data base describing known resource capacity for each of a plurality of resource categories, a known demand distribution for each of a plurality of demand categories, a known revenue yield for a resource reserved within each demand category, and a booking limit for each demand category; (c) the programmed computer including assignment means for processing the database to assign resources in a resource category to a plurality of demand categories, the assignment means comprising; (1) means for formulating a plurality of nonlinear equations representing a constrained optimization of an expected total revenue for the database and a plurality of Lagrange multipliers each representing an expected marginal resource revenue for an additional resource available on a resource category; (2) means for refining an initial approximation of a solution to the nonlinear equations using a Newton-Raphson iteration to provide a globally set of expected marginal resource revenues and booking limits; (d) reservation terminal means, operatively connected to the programmed computer, for entering a resource reservation request for a particular demand category; and (e) the programmed computer including reservation means for receiving the resource reservation request from the reservation terminal means, for accepting or rejecting the resource reservation request in accordance with the globally optimal set of expected marginal resource revenues and booking limits, for recording the resource reservation request in the data storage means, and for transmitting to the reservation terminal means an electronic status signal of the resource reservation request. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An airline seat reservation system, comprising:
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(a) a programmed computer; (b) data storage means, coupled to the programmed computer, for storing a database describing a flight network, the flight network comprised of a known seat capacity for each of a plurality of flight legs, a known demand distribution for each of a plurality of itinerary/fare classes, a known revenue yield for a seat reserved within each itinerary/fare class, and a booking limit for each itinerary/fare class; (c) the programmed computer including itinerary/fare class assignment means for processing the database describing the flight network to assign seats in a flight leg to a plurality of itinerary/fare class combinations in at least one itinerary of the flight network, the assignment means comprising; (1) means for formulating a plurality of nonlinear equations representing a constrained optimization of an expected total revenue for the flight network and a plurality of Lagrange multipliers each representing an expected marginal seat revenue for an additional seat available on a flight leg; and (2) means for refining an initial approximation of a solution to the nonlinear equations using a Newton-Raphson iteration to provide a globally optimal set of expected marginal seat revenues and booking limits. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A yield management system, comprising:
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(a) a programmed computer; (b) data storage means, coupled to the programmed computer, for storing a database describing a known resource capacity for each of a plurality of resource categories, a known demand distribution for each of a plurality of demand categories, a known revenue yield for a resource reserved within each deamand category, and a booking limit for each demand category; (c) the programmed computer including assignment means for processing the database to assign resources in a resource category to a plurality of demand categories, the assignment means comprising; (1) means for formulating a plurality of nonlinear equations representing a constrained optimization of an expected total revenue for the database and a plurality of Lagrange multipliers each representing an expected marginal resource revenue for an additional resource available on a resource category; and (2) means for refining an initial approximation of a solution to the nonlinear equations using a Newton-Raphson iteration to provide a globally optimal set of expected marginal resource revenues and booking limits. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification