Implications of Crew Rostering on Airline Operations

Abstract

This paper describes the logistics of a Fatigue Risk Management System and its implications for crew rostering with airline operations. The logistics of rostering in an airline requires that the figures estimated on fleet management and demand planning are set to the most accurate values. Many variables play a role; these values would be estimated values for the expected needs of the fleet management and the demands of planning. Crew availability can be described as a part of production but also distribution, and disposal logistics. Crews are the input of an airline company that distributes passengers or goods to a destination; contributing to an output for the company. The efficient use of crew members helps in logistics disposal; e.g., a refusal of a crew member to operate a flight due to fatigue can lead to flight disruption or even a flight cancellation, which will incur additional costs to the company. Scheduling processes with regards to crew member fatigue are furthermore regulated via Flight Time Limitations and Fatigue Risk Management Systems, however, the authors discuss the possibilities of fatigue mitigation through limiting the existing scheduling processes.