The Complex Process Behind Your Airline’s Flight Schedule!

We all have at some point complained about how late our flight was or rejoiced about an early flight.

But have you ever wondered how exactly does an airline schedule a flight?

Well, it turns out that those scheduled flight timings aren’t random. Your flight timings are a result of a complex system which is handled by a dedicated airline team.

But, before we get into the factors that determine a flight’s schedule, we first need to understand a few terms.

Departure Time –  Most of us think that departure time is the time at which the flight takes-off, but that’s not the case. Departure time is the moment your flight leaves the boarding gate.

Arrival time – This is the moment when your flight reaches the boarding gate and not the time it lands on the runway.

Block Time – This is the time between the arrival and departure time.

Airlines use a complex matrix called ‘Airline Scheduled Planning’ to fix flight timings. They use a software and feed in the historical data for a flight’s departure, arrival and block time for each specific route on a specific day. The software analyses this data and suggests a schedule for that flight.

Other than the software, airlines also keep in mind certain variables to schedule flights!

Factors That Affect A Flight’s Schedule.

1.Airport

Flight schedule of an airline is affected by the passenger traffic at the airport.

Busy airports such as Delhi or Bombay airports allot airlines a 30-60 minute window to operate their flights in a day, to keep things organised.

The infrastructure of the airport is also taken into consideration, including how many boarding gates does it have, how many runways are operational or whether there is an ongoing construction happening.

2.Connecting Flights

Airlines have to consider the timings of the connecting flights. They have to determine the departure time of their flight by analyzing what time the connecting flight is going to arrive at the other airport.

The time taken by a passenger to leave the airplane and walk to the boarding gate for the connecting flight is also added.

3.Turnaround Time

Airline turnaround time is the time taken to unload an airplane after its arrival and to prepare it for departure again.

This factor also includes the time taken to switch the airline crew. Airlines have to check whether the new crew is present at the destination or is arriving at the airport on another flight. Accordingly, they schedule their flight.

4.Flight Route

Another variable that is used to schedule a flight is how busy the route is and how much time does a flight stay in the air on that particular route.

For instance ,on busier routes, the airline might opt to operate its flights during less crowded times of the day or week.

5.Competition

This may come as a surprise to you, but the airline’s brand value in the market determines a flight’s schedule.

In some areas, you will find that airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet are more popular, while in other areas people prefer flying with Air India or GoAir.

Airlines aim to schedule flights to capture the largest customer base and avoid bottlenecking at airports, at the same time.

For Instance, if flights from 7 different airlines land during the same time at an airport, the airline may schedule its flight an hour earlier to avoid competition and get better returns.

6.Type Of Destination

Wherever possible, airlines schedule their flights based on why people are flying to a specific destination.

That is why you must have noticed that there are a lot of early morning flights to/from cities such as Bangalore ,Mumbai, or Delhi since a lot of business travellers fly there.

Scheduling late morning or afternoon flights from holiday destination such as Goa makes more sense for airlines. They want their guests to make the most of their relaxation time.

7.Unexpected Factors

Flight schedules are decided several months in advance by the airline’s “Schedule Planning Team”.

But unexpected events, such as bad weather or runway construction, might happen during that time, which can affect the arrival and departure timings.

Most airlines have a different set of employees on the team for this purpose or have flight dispatchers, who sit in the system operations center. Their main job is to tweak schedules to accommodate real-time changes as the need arises.

To sum it up, scheduling a flight is not as simple as just picking up a time which sounds good. Airlines have an experienced and dedicated team that helps them to solve this jigsaw puzzle and see which timing fits. In fact, many international airlines such as JetBlue give their schedule planning job applicants a “Sudoku Puzzle” to solve in the interviews.

If you want to know about your flight status, simply download the AirWhizz App. You will get real-time flight/ weather updates along with airline and airport information on the move & Fly Stress -Free!