Spirit Airlines has announced its investment in artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize its flight schedule and enhance reliability. The airline’s latest initiative is a pre-emptive move to prepare for a busy summer travel season. Amadeus SkySYM is the company that is providing the airline with this AI technology.
As Spirit Airlines expands, introducing new aircraft and destinations, the airline’s schedules are analyzed by its network planning team to identify potential pinch points. The new technology will use AI and machine learning to generate efficient schedules by analyzing a variety of operational data. It will also make small adjustments to improve reliability.
“Large commercial airlines like Spirit operate 24/7, 365 days a year, and working through disruptions is part of life in our industry, whether it’s from weather impacts, Air Traffic Control-related constraints, and other various events that can arise in the airspace or at airports,” said John Kirby, Vice President of Network Planning for Spirit in a press release. “SkySYM helps us proactively identify potential operational pinch points and minimize the impact through enhanced schedule design. Our team does a phenomenal job planning our network and investing in new tools will help us to continue providing a great travel experience for our Guests.”
Kirby also emphasized that AI technology will help them find ways to improve future schedules. This includes identifying trends, understanding how flights affect each other, and making suggestions to adjust turn time or block time.
Amadeus SkySYM AI Technology
Amadeus SkySYM is part of the Amadeus Sky suite, which uses data science capabilities to optimize airline schedules. It creates a side-by-side virtual representation of the airline’s schedule to identify potential conflicts. From there, the technology makes small adjustments and generates recommendations for future schedules. As a result, this technology can help improve on-time performance, reduce delays and cancellations, and enhance customer experience.
“There are hundreds of variables that make up a successful airline schedule, and optimizing this complex puzzle requires the very latest data science capabilities,” said Renzo Vaccari, Senior Vice President of Sky Suite at Amadeus.
With the use of AI, Spirit Airlines can gain a deeper understanding of where delays are likely to occur. Spirit will also be better equipped to take preventative measures and reallocate buffer time to ensure a smooth travel experience for customers.
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