SYSTEM OPERATIONS ADVISER - A REAL-TIME DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR MANAGING AIRLINE OPERATIONS AT UNITED-AIRLINES

Managing daily operations for United Airlines with its size and geogra phic scope of operations is complex and challenging. Because resources are tightly coupled, even minor perturbations could erode planned ope rations. United Airlines deploys the System Operations Advisor (SOA), a real-time decision support system at its operations control center ( OCC) to increase the effectiveness of its operational decisions. We de veloped the SOA and implemented it in August 1992. It has been in oper ation since then. From October 1993 to March 1994, its application sav ed more than 27,000 minutes of potential delays, which translates to $ 540,000 savings in delay costs, and the number of flight delays charge d to aircraft controllers in systems operations control has dropped by 50 percent since 1992.