Effective Slot Management Crucial for Profitability

The record levels of airline growth are not being matched by a corresponding increase in airport capacity.

All the more airports are constrained by slot issues. Increasingly, airports and slot coordination authorities are paying greater scrutiny to airline performance, including levelling penalties for slot discrepancies. Slot Management is become an ever more time consuming task for airlines.

“Managing slots effectively can be crucial for an airline’s profitability. Failing to meet slot requirements can lead to economic penalties or even losing a slot entirely. Ensuring one makes the best use of slots held can help make an airline’s network deliver greater passenger numbers for a better bottom line”.

James Gardner, Business Development Manager, Industrial Optimizers

It’s now high time for airlines to consider their winter season 19/20 slot requirements with deadlines approaching for historical slot-related submissions in advance of June’s 144th IATA Slot Conference.

Industrial Optimizers’ MP2 system has an advanced Slot Management tool that is available as an integrated part of MP2 AeroScheduler Plus or as a standalone solution. Using MP2 gives you the whole picture of your slot usage and requirements. MP2 will manage the distribution and receipt of all slot messages, improving accuracy and saving time.

The Slot Management tool within MP2 includes the following functionality:

  • Tracking historical slots

  • Identification of slot requirements in future schedules

  • Identification of unused and underused slots

  • Alerts on flights without slot clearance

  • 80/20 functionality

  • Full management of messaging including production, preparation, distribution and receipt of all slot-related messages between coordinators/schedules facilitators

  • Full compliance with SSIM chapter 6 requirement and support for local variations (including Chinese message format)

  • Runs on Sequential Timetable Server (SeTS), enabling multi-user support and change management

MP2 interfaces with third party and in-house solutions. It is available as both a hosted solution or local installation.

Upcoming Slot Coordination Deadlines, Winter 19/20 (Source: IATA)

SHL deadline: 22APR19

Agreed historics deadline: 09MAY19

Initial submission deadline: 16MAY19

SAL deadline: 06JUN19 at latest

IATA Slot Conference 144: 18-20JUN19

Slot return deadline: 15JUL19

Historics baseline data: 31AUG19

Start of W19/20 season: 27OCT19

Contact Industrial Optimizers to set up an online demo of MP2.