Optym helps easyJet optimize flight scheduling

Planning the flight scheduling operations of complex airline route networks accurately is no simple task. Network planners must consider a wide range of factors that can potentially impact schedules. However, when airlines do succeed in optimizing their flight schedule, they can reduce costs and improve the customer experience by reducing flight delays. In many cases, they can also unlock millions of dollars in incremental revenue.

Today, Amadeus and Optym announce that easyJet has chosen the advanced network simulation solution Amadeus SkySYM by Optym to improve the reliability of its flight schedules. This solution is one of the five solutions offered as part of the Amadeus SKY Suite by Optym, after Amadeus and Optym formed a partnership in 2016. The partnership combines Amadeus’s investment and technical expertise with Optym’s industry-leading network planning and scheduling suite to offer network planning and scheduling benefits to airlines.

SkySYM is the only technology in the market that can simulate airline schedules in the planning stage to improve schedule reliability and ensure smooth operations on the actual day of the flight. It works by simulating planned schedules under real-world conditions by modelling factors such as aircraft and passenger flows, maintenance activities, air traffic control events, weather patterns, and crew and baggage delays. It can also automatically adjust flight schedules in order to improve on-time performance.

For easyJet, implementing the solution will continue to drive an excellent on time performance, through modelling and prediction. It will also offer the airline greater flexibility and revenue opportunities by allowing it to experiment with new schedules and adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

“Every airline wants to build optimal flight schedules that will both maximize profits and be more reliable. Our results show that the system predicts on-time performance (OTP) indicators with greater than 95% accuracy and improves OTP by up to 4%, with minimal impact to network profits. Everything is impossible until somebody does it,” says Renzo Vaccari, Vice President of Airline Solutions for Optym. “We’re proud to be bringing another airline on board the Amadeus-Optym partnership to unlock more value from their flight schedule, and we look forward to extending our reach with more airline customers in order to help reinvent the future of Network Planning and Flight Scheduling.”

 Andrew Salt, Network Optimisation Manager at easyJet commented: “SkySYM is a well-developed, mature product that meets the needs of the network and schedule planning team at easyJet and we are delighted to develop our partnership with Optym and Amadeus with this product. We are confident that it will drive significant value to our business, whilst maintaining and enhancing the quality of our schedules for our customers.”

Manuel Midon, Head of Airlines, Northern & Western Europe at Amadeus said: “It’s fantastic to deepen our relationship with easyJet through the Amadeus SkySYM by Optym solution. We will work closely together with the airline during the implementation of the solution, which can contribute to providing an even better customer experience and increasing incremental revenue at the same time. This signature shows how Amadeus understands our customer’s needs, irrespective of the size or type of the carrier, and can help them meet business goals with our solutions.”