The schedule development task falls broadly under the

The schedule development task falls broadly under the marketing discipline, but
many airlines have a specialized schedule planning or airline planning department.
Except for new entrant airlines, each new flight schedule is a revision of the previous schedule.
Route structure architecture is a long-term commitment, but service in some markets will evolve. A
hub-and-spoke carrier, for example, may add point-to-point service in some city-pairs as traffic grows or
in response to competitive pressure. A change from tightly-timed connecting complexes to a rolling-hub
is a more extensive and complex schedule revision. Passengers, however, appreciate schedule stability,
so airlines operate many flights at the same times and with the same flight number for years. Because

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most airlines accept reservations up to one year before flight, work on flight schedule revision extends
from more than a year out to a few months prior to flight. Booked passengers must be notified of
schedule changes implemented after reservations have been made.
Printed hardcopies of the flight schedule or timetables were once the primary means of providing
flight information to potential passengers, but the Internet has rendered the printed timetable obsolete.
But electronic timetables, though voluminous and cumbersome to use, are available on most airline
websites. Table 5.1 is an excerpt from an online timetable showing flights from Boston, Massachusetts
and Cancun, Mexico to various destinations. Table shows the origin and destination, times and flight
number, weekly frequency and number of en route stops. Though this example is an exception,
timetables will usually show the aircraft type assigned to each flight. The timetable is the final product
of the flight schedule development process (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1 Timetable Source: Spirit Airlines
Objectives
Development of the flight schedule is an extremely complex task, not only because of the vast
number of variables and possibilities to be considered, but also because of the required trade-offs
among revenues, costs, reliability, and constraints. Figure 5.2 depicts 4 often conflicting objectives the
scheduler planner attempts to balance. Each objective is considered next.

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Figure 5.2 Flight Schedule Objectives
Revenue. The flight schedule seeks to maximize network revenues by matching flights and capacity
with passenger demand. Passengers rate flight schedule convenience as the second most important
criteria in choosing an airline, but for the high yield business segment, it’s often the primary
consideration. An airline targeting the business passenger must offer flights when he or she wishes to
travel with sufficient capacity to meet peak demand. Business passengers also favor frequent service in
the event that travel plans change. In business markets, frequent morning and late afternoon/evening
flights are essential to meeting passenger desires, but some off peak service is also needed. For markets
with aggressive competition, high flight frequency is a competitive weapon.