Airline X analysis of the current stage of crew vacation planning process
Repo, Ulla (2023)
Repo, Ulla
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202303133434
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202303133434
Tiivistelmä
In today's world, there are constant changes in companies' operating environments, highlighting the importance of organizational resilience. Change in the operational environments devises the companies' strategies, and strategies are implemented by processes capabilities. Companies should continuously analyse, redesign, and develop the current processes to adapt and keep up with the changes in their operating environment. Process capability and object is to produce value for the stakeholders and customers. Furthermore, organizations are focusing more on employees seeing as customers. One aspect to positively affects the employee experience and satisfaction is the company providing the technology environment to make employees' work lives more manageable.
Crew-related costs are among the highest expenses for airlines; therefore, airlines need to ensure that the processes support organizational strategies and efficient crew utilization. The airline crew planning process includes several complex steps and sub-problems, one of which is vacation planning. Airlines use sophisticated crew planning systems and optimization tools to support the crew planning process. Efficient systems reduce system users working time and enhance crew utilization.
This study was conducted as a qualitative case study to understand the current stage of the crew vacation planning process at the Airline to find development ideas that would support the users performing process by considering the target company strategy. Data were collected through focus group discussions and brainstorming methods with the interaction of the subject expertise on the topic.
The findings of this study show that the current crew vacation planning process supports the company's reliance on being flexible and cost-efficient. However, the study reveals the reasons that are causing issues for users performing the process at the target organization. The findings imply that the lack of efficient system support makes the process error sensitivity, time-consuming and complex, also reflecting the end-result. With better system support, the process could be more straightforward and efficient, where work tasks and decisions that do not generate additional value could be eliminated from the process. The findings additionally indicate that the vacation planning instructions could be more clearly defined and communicated to internal stakeholders. The findings generally provide a good base for prioritizing the crew vacation process development.
Crew-related costs are among the highest expenses for airlines; therefore, airlines need to ensure that the processes support organizational strategies and efficient crew utilization. The airline crew planning process includes several complex steps and sub-problems, one of which is vacation planning. Airlines use sophisticated crew planning systems and optimization tools to support the crew planning process. Efficient systems reduce system users working time and enhance crew utilization.
This study was conducted as a qualitative case study to understand the current stage of the crew vacation planning process at the Airline to find development ideas that would support the users performing process by considering the target company strategy. Data were collected through focus group discussions and brainstorming methods with the interaction of the subject expertise on the topic.
The findings of this study show that the current crew vacation planning process supports the company's reliance on being flexible and cost-efficient. However, the study reveals the reasons that are causing issues for users performing the process at the target organization. The findings imply that the lack of efficient system support makes the process error sensitivity, time-consuming and complex, also reflecting the end-result. With better system support, the process could be more straightforward and efficient, where work tasks and decisions that do not generate additional value could be eliminated from the process. The findings additionally indicate that the vacation planning instructions could be more clearly defined and communicated to internal stakeholders. The findings generally provide a good base for prioritizing the crew vacation process development.