Re: Free Airline Scheduling Software
Alfonzo Liebenstein
b) Dynamic scheduling: Stochasticity of passenger demands is a major challenge for the airlines in their quest to produce profit-maximizing schedules. Even using sophisticated optimization tools, many flights upon departure have empty seats, while others suffer a lack of seats to accommodate passengers who desire to travel. One approach to this challenge is to implement dynamic scheduling approaches that re-optimize elements of the flight schedule during the passenger booking process, recognizing that demand forecast quality for a particular date improves as the date approaches.
c) Recovery from irregular operations: We describe approaches designed for use in near real-time mode to adjust operations in response to a variety of disruptions. We present briefly some of the market-based mechanisms being considered to address this problem, with a particular focus on minimizing disruption and delay to passengers.
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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Allow me to use this time to update you on the initiatives taken by the Office of the Secretary and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address the issue of flight scheduling practices as it relates to the broader issues of airline delays and consumer protection.
During the holiday season, the Department also instituted other measures to mitigate flight delays, such as negotiating an agreement with the Department of Defense to open military airspace for commercial use. We are also continuing our outreach efforts with various stakeholders, including consumer groups, airports, and airline CEOs.
We still believe that there is a need for market-based measures to allocate capacity, and the Department continues to explore such measures. For example, there are options available to airports in lieu of caps. Our preference is to see airports address their challenges locally; however, the Federal Government will be involved once a congested airport impacts the rest of the national airspace. New York air congestion causes delays throughout the U.S.
In January, we issued a notice that proposed providing airports with a new and useful tool to price access to their facilities better. The FAA proposal would make three changes to the airports rates and charges policy. The first change would clarify that airports may use a two-part fee structure with an operation-based and weight-based element. The second change would permit an operator of a congested airport to charge for work under construction. Finally, the third change would expand the authority of an operator of an airport system to charge users of the congested airport in the system for the airfield costs of other airports in its system. If adopted, the amendments would allow a congested airport to charge prices commensurate with the true costs of using its runways. In return, this will provide users better incentives to consider alternatives, such as scheduling flights outside of peak demand times, increasing aircraft size to use the congested runways more efficiently or meeting regional air service needs through alternative, less congested facilities. The comment period ended on April 3, and we hope to act on the proposal soon.
Per landing charges are a much better proxy for costs than weight-based charges. Since 2002, the amount of small aircraft (planes with fewer than 100 seats) flying into New York area airport increased substantially. Small aircraft flights at JFK increased 393%; Newark increased 53%; and LaGuardia increased 48%. The way we charge for airport use is an important contributor to this trend. Economists on both sides of the political aisle have acknowledged this relationship.
Over the next few years, the FAA will also install and test ADS-B for use in Air Traffic Control Separation Services. Philadelphia is one of the key sites for this initiative. The FAA plans to commission the ADS-B services in September 2010 and a nationwide rollout by 2013.
While relieving congestion will go a long way in addressing consumer issues, the Department also is undertaking a number of consumer-specific measures. Our consumer protection initiatives have advanced a great deal in the last six months. This is due in part to the appropriation by Congress of $2.5 million targeted to improving consumer protections, and I can assure you we are putting it to good use. The funding is being used for additional staff to pursue investigations and enforcement actions, improvements to our aviation consumer protection Web site and consumer complaint system, brochures for air travelers to help them understand their rights and responsibilities, and a series of public forums to listen to air travelers and the problems they have experienced.
The Department also published a proposal to enhance the on-time performance data that carriers currently report to the Department so that the Department, the industry, and the public have access to more complete information on flights that are cancelled, diverted, or experience gate returns. We hope to take final action soon.
The third rulemaking, an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, requested comments on various proposals designed to provide consumers information or enhance consumer protections, including proposed requirements that airlines: create legally binding contingency plans for extended tarmac delays, respond to all consumer complaints within 30 days, publish complaint data online, and provide on-time performance information for international flights. The Department is currently considering the comments received. The next step would be issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on any proposals the Department decides to advance after reviewing the public comments.
In addition to these rulemakings, the Secretary formed a "Tarmac Delay Task Force" in December. The purpose of the task force is to study past delays, review existing and other promising practices, and develop model contingency plans that airlines and airports can tailor to their unique operating environments to mitigate the impact of lengthy ground delays on consumers. The task force also will consider possible unintended consequences that solutions to tarmac delays may pose for travelers. The task force is composed of 35 individuals representing a broad cross-section of airlines, airports, consumer groups, and other stakeholders. The first meeting of the task force was held February 26, and the next meeting is scheduled for April 29. The Department expects that the task force will meet at least three more times in 2008 and will complete its work by the end of the year. In my opinion, the Task Force is working well and will be the source of best practices that will improve the travel experience when things do go wrong.
Three other important initiatives of our Aviation Enforcement Office deserve mention. The office has plans to conduct on-site enforcement investigations of five large airlines this fiscal year to evaluate their compliance with consumer protection requirements. In addition, the office will be holding three Aviation Consumer Protection Forums across the country to educate consumers regarding their rights as air travelers and to hear first-hand their concerns about air travel. The office is also continuing its investigation of unrealistic scheduling by large airlines, targeting chronically delayed flights. During the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of such flights decreased dramatically, and in 2008, the Aviation Enforcement Office will be applying a somewhat more rigorous set of criteria during its review.
Some have argued that airlines have individually or collectively scheduled flights during periods of the day in which the system is simply unable to handle the volume without resulting delays. I would like to assure the Committee that the Department of Transportation has sufficient authority to investigate unrealistic scheduling and, if necessary, penalize actions that we deem to be unfair or deceptive trade practices. Although a congested system is not necessarily evidence of unfair or deceptive practices, we will continue to diligently investigate potential evidence of such practices and take any appropriate action.
We are well aware that tarmac and flight delays are making air travel an unpleasant experience for passengers. The Department will continue to take action to ease uncertainty and reduce inconvenience for passengers.
While we are working to improve consumer protections, we do not want to lose sight of the fact that the underlying cause of much of the occasional misery attributed to air travel is congestion and delays. For this reason, the Department has been engaged in a discussion over the last several months with a wide variety of stakeholders on the efficacy of using a better economic model to balance supply and demand in a sustainable way.
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