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Bombardier Flexjet Significantly Improves Its Fractional Aircraft Ownership Operations

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Hicks

    (Bombardier Aerospace, 3400 Waterview Parkway, Suite 400, Richardson, Texas 75080)

  • Richard Madrid

    (Bombardier Aerospace, 3400 Waterview Parkway, Suite 400, Richardson, Texas 75080)

  • Chris Milligan

    (Bombardier Aerospace, 3400 Waterview Parkway, Suite 400, Richardson, Texas 75080)

  • Robert Pruneau

    (Bombardier Aerospace, 3400 Waterview Parkway, Suite 400, Richardson, Texas 75080)

  • Mike Kanaley

    (Bombardier Aerospace, 3400 Waterview Parkway, Suite 400, Richardson, Texas 75080)

  • Yvan Dumas

    (AD OPT Technologies Inc., 3535, chemin Queen-Mary, Suite 650, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3V 1H8)

  • Benoit Lacroix

    (AD OPT Technologies Inc., 3535, chemin Queen-Mary, Suite 650, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3V 1H8)

  • Jacques Desrosiers

    (HEC Montréal and GERAD, 3000, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3T 2A7)

  • François Soumis

    (École Polytechnique de Montréal and GERAD, C.P. 6079, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3A7)

Abstract

The fractional aircraft market is the fastest growing segment of the business aircraft industry. A fractional aircraft operation is complex—essentially an unscheduled airline in a constantly changing environment. Bombardier Flexjet implemented a comprehensive three-module optimization system to simultaneously maximize its use of aircraft, crews, and facilities. AD OPT Technologies designed the modules, using the GENCOL optimizer developed at GERAD, which employs a column-generation approach to decompose large-scale mixed-integer nonlinear programming problems. Since inception, the project has generated savings in excess of $54 million with projected additional savings of $27 million annually, primarily by lowering crew levels (20 percent), aircraft inventory (40 percent), and supplemental charter aircraft usage (five percent) while increasing aircraft utilization (10 percent). The quality of customer service has remained consistently high, with significant reduction in supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Hicks & Richard Madrid & Chris Milligan & Robert Pruneau & Mike Kanaley & Yvan Dumas & Benoit Lacroix & Jacques Desrosiers & François Soumis, 2005. "Bombardier Flexjet Significantly Improves Its Fractional Aircraft Ownership Operations," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 49-60, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:35:y:2005:i:1:p:49-60
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1040.0113
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chris Martin & David Jones & Pinar Keskinocak, 2003. "Optimizing On-Demand Aircraft Schedules for Fractional Aircraft Operators," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 22-35, October.
    2. Martin Desrochers & François Soumis, 1989. "A Column Generation Approach to the Urban Transit Crew Scheduling Problem," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 1-13, February.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sanchez, David Torres & Boyacı, Burak & Zografos, Konstantinos G., 2020. "An optimisation framework for airline fleet maintenance scheduling with tail assignment considerations," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 142-164.
    3. Wei Yang & Itır Karaesmen & Pınar Keskinocak & Sridhar Tayur, 2008. "Aircraft and crew scheduling for fractional ownership programs," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 415-431, March.
    4. Safaei, Nima & Jardine, Andrew K.S., 2018. "Aircraft routing with generalized maintenance constraints," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 111-122.
    5. Yao, Yufeng & Ergun, Özlem & Johnson, Ellis & Schultz, William & Singleton, J.M., 2008. "Strategic planning in fractional aircraft ownership programs," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(2), pages 526-539, September.

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