Aviation Research and Operational Challenges
Expertise
Professional knowledge about current and future challenges of air transportation. Considerable expertise to efficiently handle complex operational environments.
Mission: Develop and operationalize concepts to increase performance.
Science
Model, data, and knowledge based approaches to develop innovative solutions for operational problems.
Concept development including verfication, calibration and validation with a proven record of scientific excellence.
Simulation
Comprehensive expertise to build up problem focussed, reliable, and realistic simulation environments.
Starting from proof-of-concept implementations, prototypes, up to field tested environments for operational decission support.
Operations
Partner in operation for major stakeholdesr: airports, airlines, and ground handling agencies.
Cooperation with industry to provide innovative solutions and to transfer research results into industrial applications.
Aircraft operations | Boarding research
and relevant
focus on the
customer
realize
savings
The punctuality of an aircraft at the day of operations depends on efficient arrival/departure procedures. enroute performance, and on a reliable and efficient turnaround. The turnaround consists of the five major tasks disembark, cater, clean, fuel, and boarding as well as the parallel cargo loading/unloading. The boarding progress is not controlled by airline, ground handler, or airport operators but driven by passengers experience and their willingness or ability to follow the proposed procedures (see late arrivals, no shows, amount of hand luggage or handling of status passengers). The aircraft boarding holds both the potential to significantly impact the airline performance and to sunstainable contribute to operational savings (reduced airline costs). Procedural and infrastructural changes as well as future cabin management systems are key enablers for efficient operations.
-
managment, team lead, consultant
-
supervision, evaluation, data management
-
decision support, science, validation
-
model, proof of concept, measurements
Featured innovation: Side-Slip Seat
efficient boarding enabled with infrastructural changes
[screenshot of the simulation and animation environment]
In the context of scientific research, the boarding strategy with the implemented Side-Slip Seat was subject of an optimization challenge using evolutionary algorithms. As a result, a favorable operational strategy was identified where the aircraft cabin is divided along the aisle into a left and right part (these parts are boarded separately: random L|R strategy). The appropriate combination of engineering and research expertise finally leads to an optimized boarding with 19% savings of boarding time and 11% smaller standard deviation.
Sucessful projects
Airport Terminal
Task: Optimization of passenger handling processes, terminal signage, and development of infrastructural improvements.
Behavior model, simulation environment, measurement campaigns, field trials.
Aircraft Operations
Task: Analysis of operational data and performance assessment to derive an efficient decission support system.
Data measurement and management, statistical analysis, requirement documentation, model, simulation
Mass Events
Task: Support, planning, and control for an event with more than 200.000 participants, focussing on safe and efficient traffic/ pedestrian flow.
Concept design, route guidance, bottleneck analysis, evaluation of traffic infrastructre
Evacuation, Certification
Task: Assessment and developement of evacuation strategies to certify traffic infrastructure and rail transport.
Review of requirement documents, implementation and simulation of evacuation scenarios, safety concept
Background material
The research topic aircraft boarding addresses various scientific disciplines ranging from mathematics, engineering, economics, or human factors. In this context the dynamic behavior of passengers and their experiences are very important impact factors for efficient airport operations. Some results from the research about the dynamic passenger behavior at airport terminals are shown in the following video.
The website will be continuously extended to provide a solid background to individually start investigations, to get an overview of milestones achieved, or to compare research results. Should you have any further questions which have not been covered or should you require technical, operational, or scientific advice, please feel free to contact us via the contact form bellow.