The challenge
A North American carrier with a mixed fleet of 737-400 and 737-800 aircraft had communications, processes, and organizational alignment issues that led to elevated fuel use, repeat operational disruptions and poor recovery time. There was a lack of clarity on the company's strategic direction to support departmental planning and priorities.
In addition, their mixed fleet drove inefficiencies and schedule reliability challenges. We saw there were other challenges, including:
- Lack of fuel management and contract dispatch oversight
- Communication gaps between departments that lead to inefficient day-to-day operations and ineffective management of unexpected events
- A need for standard operating procedures to fully optimize operations
We identified the annual costs of delays:
- $3.1M in crew delays
- $5.5M in technical delays
- $1.9M in passenger services and ramp delays
- 98.4% TDR (98.3% 400s, 98.7% 800s)
- 62% of flights landed with >3500kg of fuel
- Opportunity to decrease arrival fuel