Ground Support Worldwide - 12

INDUSTRY EXPERT
COLUMN:

IT/DATA

The Value of OTP Data
for Ground Support
As the amount of useful data
rises, its significance for ground support
operators and services increases too.
By John Grant

AG has been powering the growth and
innovation of the air travel ecosystem since
1929. Every day OAG receives more than
120,000 changes to its schedules database
and nearly 160,000 flight status updates.
The frequency and volume of data OAG receives
from airlines and airports is growing at a significant
rate and consequently the value of understanding and
ingesting this information quickly and effectively is
rising - no more so than within airline and airport
operations and the ancillary services which serve
the traveler.
Every flight status record (OAG handled over 58
million records last year) has multiple elements of
data, tracking each flight from pushback through to
"chocks on," constantly being updated and refreshed
as the flight reaches its final destination.
Punctuality, or on-time performance (OTP),
matters more than ever and with value of this data
and insight rising, OAG delves into the value this
can add to ground support operators and services.

What is On Time?

It's true, every second counts.
An airline departure or arrival that is considered

to be on time has a departure or arrival that occurs
within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. The measurement and publication of data about on-time
performance acts as a powerful key performance
indicator (KPI) for airlines and airports, and it is
also a potential service differentiator for marketing
the product to air travelers.

Real-Time Data Provides a
'Common Truth' For All

With so little room to maneuver - both in the skies
above and on the ground below - airport, airlines and
airside operators depend on real-time flight status
data to deconstruct the departure process, analyze
problems and optimize services in real-time.
It has become a central part of the operation for
many airlines, airports and aviation related companies. Transport suppliers, catering companies,
government agencies, hoteliers, cruise companies,
information service providers, fueling companies
and probably another 30 or 40 travel related activities rely on real-time flight status data to plan their
resources on a day to day basis.

When Accuracy and Speed
Matter

Image courtesy of OAG

Sequencing Arriving Aircraft
Airlines use flight status data to prioritize the
sequencing of arriving aircraft from long-haul
flights into their hub to ensure that those aircraft
arriving late can be prioritized for arrival ahead of
early arriving flights. Subsequent short-haul connecting services can then, on occasion, be held for
connecting passengers rather than incurring a delay
and re-accommodation cost to the airline.

12 GROUND SUPPORT WORLDWIDE

Resource Management
Flight status data is used increasingly by airport
suppliers, especially those working directly on aircraft turnarounds. We have all seen catering trucks,
bowsers and ramp staff waiting for a late aircraft to
arrive on stand; for some, it can be the first sign of the
flight arriving. However, multiply those wait times

MAY 2019

Ground Support Worldwide

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ground Support Worldwide