AI-enabled turnaround management specialist Assaia has launched its first Turnaround Benchmark Report at this year’s World Aviation Forum (WAF), being held in Lisbon, Portugal. The company uses AI Computer Vision technology to provide airports with complete visibility of turnaround operations.
The report provides analysis for on-time performance, the efficiency of catering, fuelling, unloading and loading and pushback connections and reveals three important findings. These include there being a 41 minute difference between the best and worst turnaround performances, the best performing airports and airlines being able to deliver three more turnarounds per day than the worst performers and the fact that avoidable APU usage costs the same as the profit from 11 passengers and produces 86kg of Co2 per flight.
Speaking at WAF, Max Diez, Assaia CEO said, “We all know the industry operates on wafer-thin margins. Fuel prices are currently going up, which makes everyone nervous. And just in the past few weeks, we’ve seen disruption and delays caused by technology outages, bad weather, infrastructure failures, industrial action and staffing issues.”
He added that airports need to find all the efficiencies they can. “Every aspect of airport and airline operations is monitored and managed to the highest degree. The exception, until very recently, has been the turnaround. Because it is made up of many activities performed by multiple entities, it has been very difficult to get a complete picture of the entire operation. And without measurement, effective management is impossible.”
The report, which is focused on turnarounds for short-haul flights as inefficiencies here can have a bigger impact in terms of cancelled flights and frustrated passengers, also looks at the environmental implications of turnaround operations, focusing on auxiliary power unit and pre-conditioned air usage.
Diez concluded, “The results are based on analysis of the worst-performing third, the middle performing third and the best-performing third. The differences between the best and worst performers demonstrate very clearly why monitoring and holistic management of turnarounds is so important.”
