Integro Technolojiz has optimized the resources of the crew of Rossiya Airlines

2021: Implementation of the Flight and Cabin Crew Resource Optimizer

On December 20, 2021, Integro Technolojiz announced the completion of the implementation of the software and hardware complex (PAC) "Optimizer of the resources of flight and cabin crew members" in Rossiya Airlines. The project reduced the level of unsustainable use of resources, minimized the human factor and laid the foundation for improving the effectiveness of forward planning in one of the largest air carriers in the country.

Drawing up an optimal crew plan for the flight is one of the main optimization tasks for Rossiya Airlines. When implementing it, it is necessary to take into account many requirements, including compliance with legislative norms, business rules, taking into account restrictions in connection with the admission and qualification of crew members, reducing the cost of travel support for crews, and time restrictions on finding the optimal solution.

The planning of pairings (flight plan) and rosters (flight and cabin crew assignment plan) required increased efficiency, including the use of resources, reduced risks of human error, and the ability to control the planning methodology used. To achieve a qualitative result in a given direction with the involvement of the Integro Technolojiz team, the PAK Optimizer for the Resources of Flight and Cabin Crew Members was introduced in Rossiya Airlines. It consists of two server configurations, two storage systems, two SAN switches, and a software solution.

The project team has created an automated iterative forward planning tool for crews for use in various scenarios of the airline's development. It easily adapts to changes in regulatory documents and business tasks. At the user level, the system allows you to configure key parameters when creating a flight plan, operate different versions of crew schedules, and determine priorities for rules and criteria in these schedules.

A similar class of systems is one of the most difficult to implement. This is due to the complexity of setting optimization goals and tasks, the accuracy of setting rules and restrictions, and most importantly, the approach to verification by the customer of the results, "said Dmitry Popov, CEO of Integro Technology. - The project team not only actually implemented the first implementation of the solution, made its close integration with the main production system of crew planning, but also implemented the project in a short time.

The introduction of the system made it possible to digitize the process of prospective planning of the crew schedule, reduce the time for completing tasks within the process, and increase the uniformity of the distribution of work volumes among crew members. To build promising plans for pilots and flight attendants for five fleets, only three business users are involved instead of ten, it takes from two days to five instead of two weeks earlier to build a plan.

{{quote 'The task of creating a promising schedule of flights of crews is quite laborious, "said Igor Pogodin, deputy director of the planning center of Rossiya Airlines. - It takes a lot of time and resources to solve it with proper quality. With the help of Optimizer, our employees were able not to perform the same type of operations step by step, and again and again to the previous steps, but to configure the whole solution in a short time. }}

At the same time, the degree of fairness in the distribution of different types of work and flight time among crew members has significantly increased, which is one of the key goals of this work. Now the company also focuses on the costs of the airline to provide flights with crews when compiling a particular scenario.

The optimizer made you look at the entire planning process in a new way, see how important it is to clearly describe business processes and rules, and how one requirement can affect the implementation of all others. Such nuances are difficult to notice when you are not able to model various scenarios of crew schedules.

The company aims to further develop the system already in the tactical and operational planning loop and has the goal of reaching the maximum possible automation in this matter.