System and method for determining aircraft payloads to enhance profitability

• US 9,165,471 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2014
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Chen, Weiwei, Bollapragada, Srinivas, Petersen, Jon David
• Primary Examiner(s): BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN
• Application Number:
  US14/228,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20150279217A1
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/003 Flight plan management
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0034 Assembly of a flight plan
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 5/0039 Modification of a flight plan

Abstract

A method for managing aircraft operations includes determining, via a trajectory predictor, an expected fuel usage for a flight along a desired route, and determining, via at least one processor, an available cargo capacity for the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the expected fuel usage. In addition, the method includes determining, via the at least one processor and the trajectory predictor, a passenger ticket price, a cargo price, and a fuel quantity based at least in part on an available seating capacity, an expected passenger demand, the available cargo capacity, and an expected cargo demand to enhance profitability of a flight network. The method also includes outputting the passenger ticket price, the cargo price, and the fuel quantity to a user interface, to a storage device, and/or to a network.

Claims

1. A system for managing aircraft operations, comprising:

a trajectory predictor configured to determine an expected fuel usage for a flight along a desired route based at least in part on a flight plan, an aircraft type, expected weather conditions, or a combination thereof, for the flight along the desired route, wherein the flight along the desired route is one of a plurality of flights within a flight network; and

a memory operatively coupled to a processor and configured for storing data and instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform a method comprising;

determining an available cargo capacity for the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the expected fuel usage;

determining, in cooperation with the trajectory predictor, a passenger ticket price, a cargo price, and a fuel quantity based at least in part on an available seating capacity, an expected

passenger demand, the available cargo capacity, and an expected cargo demand to enhance profitability of the flight network; and

outputting the passenger ticket price, the cargo price, and the fuel quantity to a user interface, to a storage device, to a network, or a combination thereof.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the trajectory predictor substantially corresponds to an onboard flight management system of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fuel quantity is determined by the trajectory predictor based at least in part on an expected weight of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route, and the expected weight is at least partially dependent upon the passenger ticket price and the cargo price.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the method comprises determining the available cargo capacity based at least in part on an expected cargo show-up quantity.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the method comprises determining, in cooperation with the trajectory predictor, whether to reroute passengers, whether to reroute cargo, or a combination thereof, during a preflight phase based at least in part on an updated flight plan, measured weather conditions, or a combination thereof, for the flight along the desired route to enhance profitability of the flight network.

6. A computer implemented method for managing aircraft operations, comprising:

receiving an available seating capacity for a flight along a desired route, wherein the flight along the desired route is one of a plurality of flights within a flight network;

receiving an expected passenger demand for the flight along the desired route;

receiving an expected cargo demand for the flight along the desired route;

determining, via a trajectory predictor, an expected fuel usage for the flight along the desired route;

determining, via at least one processor, an available cargo capacity for the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the expected fuel usage;

determining, via the at least one processor and the trajectory predictor, a passenger ticket price, a cargo price, and a fuel quantity based at least in part on the available seating capacity, the expected passenger demand, the available cargo capacity, and the expected cargo demand to enhance profitability of the flight network; and

outputting the passenger ticket price, the cargo price, and the fuel quantity to a user interface, to a storage device, to a network, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the trajectory predictor substantially corresponds to an onboard flight management system of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the fuel quantity is determined by the trajectory predictor based at least in part on an expected weight of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route, and the expected weight is at least partially dependent upon the passenger ticket price and the cargo price.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the passenger ticket price, the cargo price, and the fuel quantity, comprises:

selecting the passenger ticket price and the cargo price;

determining, via the at least one processor, an expected weight of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the passenger ticket price and the cargo price;

determining, via the trajectory predictor, the fuel quantity based at least in part on the expected weight of the aircraft; and

iteratively adjusting, via the at least one processor, the passenger ticket price and the cargo price until a stopping condition is reached.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the trajectory predictor is configured to determine the expected fuel usage based at least in part on a flight plan, an aircraft type, expected weather conditions, or a combination thereof, for the flight along the desired route.

11. The method of claim 6, comprising receiving an expected cargo show-up quantity for the flight along the desired route, wherein determining the available cargo capacity is based at least in part on the expected cargo show-up quantity.

12. The method of claim 6, comprising:

receiving available alternative cargo routes and cargo time constraint information; and

determining, via the at least one processor, desired alternative cargo routes based at least in part on the available alternative cargo routes and the cargo time constraint information;

wherein determining the passenger ticket price, the cargo price, and the fuel quantity is based at least in part on the desired alternative cargo routes.

13. The method of claim 6, comprising adjusting, via the at least one processor, the available seating capacity, the available cargo capacity, or a combination thereof, to reduce overbooking of passengers, to reduce overbooking of cargo, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 6, comprising determining, via the at least one processor and the trajectory predictor, whether to reroute passengers, whether to reroute cargo, or a combination thereof, during a preflight phase based at least in part on a flight plan, measured weather conditions, or a combination thereof, for the flight along the desired route to enhance profitability of the flight network.

15. The method of claim 6, comprising;

determining, via the at least one processor, which passengers to reroute, which cargo to reroute, or a combination thereof, based at least in part on expected losses associated with rerouting the passengers, with rerouting the cargo, or a combination thereof; and

outputting a list of passengers to reroute, a list of cargo to reroute, or a combination thereof, to the user interface, to the storage device, to the network, or a combination thereof.

16. A computer implemented method for managing aircraft operations, comprising:

receiving an updated flight plan for a flight along a desired route, measured weather conditions for the flight along the desired route, or a combination thereof, wherein the updated flight plan is updated during a preflight phase from a flight plan determined during a planning phase, the measured weather conditions are updated during the preflight phase from expected weather conditions determined during the planning phase, and the flight along the desired route is one of a plurality of flights within a flight network;

determining, via a trajectory predictor, an expected fuel usage for the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the updated flight plan, the measured weather conditions, or the combination thereof;

determining, via at least one processor, an expected weight of an aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route based at least in part on the expected fuel usage;

determining, via the at least one processor, whether to reroute passengers, whether to reroute cargo, or a combination thereof, during the preflight phase based at least in part on the expected fuel usage and the expected weight to enhance profitability of the flight network;

determining, via the at least one processor, which passengers to reroute, which cargo to reroute, or a combination thereof, based at least in part on expected losses associated with rerouting the passengers, with rerouting the cargo, or a combination thereof; and

outputting data associated with rerouting the passengers, data associated with rerouting the cargo, or a combination thereof, to a user interface, to a storage device, to a network, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the expected losses associated with rerouting the passengers are based at least in part on available alternative passenger routes and passenger value information, and the expected losses associated with rerouting the cargo are based at least in part on available alternative cargo routes, cargo time constraint information, and cargo value information.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein outputting the data associated with rerouting the passengers, the data associated with rerouting the cargo, or the combination thereof, comprises outputting a list of passengers to reroute and a route associated with each rerouted passenger, a list of cargo to reroute and a route associated with each rerouted cargo item, or a combination thereof, to the user interface, to the storage device, to the network, or the combination thereof.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the trajectory predictor substantially corresponds to an onboard flight management system of the aircraft associated with the flight along the desired route.