pacelab ci ops

8/10/2019 Pacelab Ci Ops

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ISSUE 2 SUMMER 2011

Fuel savings from EFB implementation

Pre-flight information supports serviceIT tools to minimise EU ETS compliance costs

Aircraft Data Special Getting the right data transmission

Data as a global business asset

White Papers:LinkSMART Aviation Intelligence Tasc4Aviation

Case Studies: Lufthansa Cityline Thai Airways International


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8 | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE| AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS| SUMMER 2011

FUEL EXPENSES HAVE always represented a large proportion o totalexpenditure or an airline. In the past year, the price trend o crude oiland uel prices associated with it demonstrated the need or airlines worldwide toact sustainably. And by acting, we understand, in this context, we mean finding

uel saving measures.

Even though the low hanging ruits have already been harvested, there remains

a possible measure with high savings potential that could be implemented in

the regional airlines sector. Tat measure is the implementation o a new flight

procedure on the basis o variable airspeeds which will entail turning away

rom the previous practice o a fixed airspeed, regardless o external parameters.

Tereore it is necessary to be able to calculate and identiy a speed that

generates the lowest costs within the given time slot (block flying time) with due

regard to a scheduled time o arrival.

o achieve this, a company-specific cost index (CI) can be applied. Tis so

called CI represents the ratio between event-related and flight time-dependent

costs, and the uel price.

While the CI unctionality is part o the standard equipment o every modern

flight management system on Airbus and Boeing aircraf, it has not yet been

established in the cockpits o regional aircraf. Te question as to why has to be

answered by the manuacturers o those aircraf in light o a changing sector.

Regional air traffic is no longer a 20 minutes flight with a turboprop. All over

the world, increasing numbers o regional jets are pushing orward into the

medium haul range with aircraf o up to, and sometimes even more than, 100

passenger seats. Te word regional does not so much reer to the geographic

operation radius, but rather to the size o the aircraf uselage.

Te savings potentials, available with a change rom fixed speeds to variablecost index based speeds are enormous. Fuel experts at IAA describe the savings

potential in their IAA Fuel Action Plan, Guidance material and best practices

or uel and environmental management as ollows: CI optimization o planned

speeds will yield savings rom 2 to 3 per cent and in some cases, as much as

10% when a flight is restricted to a low altitude or in unusually strong winds.

Te ollowing calculation outlines the size o the savings potential:

Fuel consumption o the Canadair and Embraer fleet o Lufhansa CityLine

amounted to 195,000 tons o kerosene in 2010. A supposed uel saving o 3%

leads to reduction in use o more than 5,800 tons o Kerosene. Furthermore a

supposed uel price o euro/ton 744 would lead to a savings potential o more

than 4.3 million euro and reduced emission o 18,400 tons o CO2.

PACELAB CI OPS

In order to use the cost index effectively or the fleet o Lufhansa CityLine, a

cost index operations optimization sofware was developed by PACE, a Berlin

based company or aerospace engineering and inormation technology.

Supporting the strategic flight planning process and on-board tactical economic

decisions, Pacelab CI OPS significantly reduces uel consumption and the

emission o CO2 and other pollutants. Compared to constant Mach speeds, CI

operations reduce uel burn and harmul emissions by at least 2%, and even up

How to implementfuel savings linked to EFBWith so many factors to consider, technology makes fuel eciency decisions so much better, writes

Capt. Joachim Scheiderer, Manager Flight Operations Engineering, Lufthansa CityLine


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SUMMER 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS| CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE| 9

to 10% in adverse conditions.

Until now the flight planning system used fixed

published speed schedules and was not capable

o calculating a CI based flight plan due to the

missing respective ime/Fuel/Distance data.

Pacelab CI OPS enhances existing flight planning

systems with supplementary CI perormance data or the

climb, cruise and descent flight phases.

As well as calculating the optimum flight plan, it also allows

on board tactical economic decisions in response to in-flight

changes such as delay or early arrival, AC cleared unplanned

flight level or AC requested speed change. Flight crews are

able to recalculate and update planned trajectories whenever

there are deviations rom the Operational Flight Plan (OFP).

APPLICATION OF CI OPERATIONS

Cost index operation is based on a two-stage optimization approach:

strategic planning, made in advance o the flight and tactical planning, or in-

flight corrections to the flight plan.

Strategic planning in the context o cost index operations means the calculationand creation o the OFP. Tis orms the basis or the planned flight and urther

tactical optimizations. actical planning ollows strategic planning. It allows

or continuous checking and optimization during flight. Te crew is then in a

position o being able to react to any unpredicted changes during the flight. Te

tool or tactical planning is the Pacelab CI OPS sofware.

Te ollowing example indicates the necessity o tactical planning. Te crew

receives and OFP rom A to B which contains a taxi-out time o 10 minutes and

a taxi-in time o six minutes with a block time o 100 minutes.

According to the previously optimized OFP, the flight time is 84 minutes. Due to

a high traffic density in A the 10 minute taxi time becomes 18 minutes beore line-

up. Te time window or the flight is thereore reduced by eight minutes only 76

minutes are available. How can the trajectories be changed in order to achieve an

optimum ratio between flight time and uel burn, i.e. cost? Te main options arechanging the climb speed, the (optimum) flight level or the cruise speed

THE ECONOMIC FLIGHT PROFILE

Discounting external influences such as wind, it is generally possible to say that

flights at high altitudes use less uel than those at low altitudes. Normally, only

the cruise segment is optimized. However, as part o a total optimization, this is

not enough. In short-range flights, the horizontal segment is ofen only a small

part o the overall flight profile.

Te figure above shows that a high indicated airspeed in the climb segment

(i.e. higher cost index) leads to a gentler climb angle. Te cruise altitude is

Tactical PlanningStrategic Planning

Provision of CI performance

data for climb, cruise and

descent for improved OFPs

Support of in-flight economic

decisions on board following

OFP deviations of any kind

Cost Index Performance Data

for Your Flight Planning System

Electronic

Flight Bag

Paper

Booklet


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10 | CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE| AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS| SUMMER 2011

thereore reached later. Tis situation is reversed or a low cost index (CI=0) or

a low speed. Te extra power o the engines results in a high climb angle, so

that the cruise altitude is reached earlier. Both cases have implications or the

subsequent cruise segment and the overall flight time.

In the case o the descent segment, a higher cost index (higher flight speed)

leads to a steeper angle o descent, whereas a lower cost index (slower flight

speed) allows or a gentler angle o descent. Like the climb segment, there are

implications to the cruise segment. A steep and short descent results in a longer

cruise segment at the optimum altitude.

It is important to note that or each parameter set comprised o take-off weight

(OW), CI, distance and wind there is a particular combination o optimum

altitude and optimum speed triple, where speed triple denotes a particular

combination o climb, cruise and descent speed values. Te figure below shows

such a speed triple or an example parameter set with an altitude restriction (Alt

Cap) on FL340 as a point in three-dimensional space.

Each time the parameters are changed, the position o the point changes in

this space, making rule o thumb estimates impossible.

CI OPS USE IN COCKPIT

Lufhansa CityLine uses so called Class 2 EFB systems in the cockpits o their

Canadair and Embraer Jets. Class 2 EFB systems are generally commercial-off-the-shel (COS) based computer systems used or aircraf operations.

Tey are portable and connected to aircraf power through a certified power

source. Te Class 2 EFB system is considered as a controlled personal electronic

device (PED) and is connected to an aircraf mounting device during normal

operations. Moreover connectivity to Avionics is possible, but the systems

require airworthiness approval.

PERFORMING CALCULATIONS IN CI OPS

COCKPIT PREPARATION PREP

Beore flight, the Pacelab CI OPS must be initialized with basic flight mission

and weather data. Tese data can be supplied using an eOFP or by manually

entering the required data.

Afer having entered all data necessary or calculating the optimum trajectory,

the Calculate button can be used or a first optimum trajectory be calculated.

Te trajectories calculated in PREP are not time constrained and thereore

correspond to the most economical trajectory with regard to the total costs

(time and uel).

In the results window the (non-time constrained) trajectory or even and odd

flight levels together with additional inormation about uel and total cost are

displayed in the Profile View:

LINEUP T/O 60S

Afer line-up clearance has been obtained and take-off is expected to be initiated in

about 60 seconds, the pilot can click the /O 60s Button on the action toolbar to

calculate the optimum trajectory considering the actual take-off time. CI OPS takes

the system time and adds 60 seconds to estimate the take-off time. Based on this

take-off time, the application calculates the trajectory and displays the results.

By comparing the take-off time with the on-block time, delays or early-in-time-

scenarios (or example, caused by slot or taxi-out delay or shorter taxi-out times)are included in the time dependent trajectory. Te time window or the flight is

thus larger or smaller.

In case o a delay, Pacelab CI OPS will modiy the CI up to a maximum

allowable value. When this value is reached, a delay will be accepted. In case o

being ahead o time, the trajectory or the minimum CI will be calculated.

CHANGE OF SPEED

During the flight, AC might advise you to change speed in cruise. Tis is

requently caused by the staggering o aircraf ahead or behind.

Following the act that there is a specific optimum speed, the Speed use case

is available. In addition to the trajectory or maintaining the current FL and

applying the required speed, trajectories or our additional flight levels (two

above, two below) and the appropriate ECON speeds will be calculated.

DELAYED OR TOO EARLY IN CRUISE

Because o various external effects, it is ofen the case during a flight that the

pilots realize they will arrive too early (or too late) at the destination. Te


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SUMMER 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT OPERATIONS| CASE STUDY: LUFTHANSA CITYLINE| 11

reasons or this might be a stronger wind component or a short cut by AC

that was not known or included during the planning phase. For example: a

crew receives several short cuts rom AC during the flight, shortening the total

flight time by six minutes. Tis additional time could be used to reduce speed, i

the arrival delay is not a actor. By using Pacelab CI OPS, the pilot can quickly

check, i applying a new speed is beneficial or not. Te sofware would come up

with a recalculated speed suggestion, taking the new parameters in account.

DIFFERENT FLIGHT LEVEL

One o the most requent cases is a deviation in the real allocated flight level rom

the originally planned one. For example: during climb phase, AC tells the flight

crew to maintain an altitude below or even above that planned. Te question iswhether the ECON speed calculated or the original FL is still the optimum and i

there is an OPS or uel restriction at the target FL. For example, a higher head wind

in a lower FL can lead to a higher recommended ECON speed. As in the other

cases, the pilot can quickly determine the optimum speed or the new situation.

Te previously mentioned examples show, that Pacelab CI OPS is a very easy

to use and powerul tool, putting the pilot in the position o being able to make

inormed decisions on a knowledge-based trajectory analysis.

CAPT. JOACHIM SCHEIDERERJoachim Scheiderer started his ying career in 1995 at the Lufthansa Pilots

School in Bremen and Tucson/Arizona. He started ying as a

First Ocer in 1997 and since 2001 has served as a Captain

for Lufthansa CityLine, ying the Bombardier Canadair Jet 200,

700 and 900 eet.

From 1999 he was appointed to the Flight Operations

Management Team at Lufthansa CityLine, responsible for the area Flight

Operations Engineering. The main focus encompasses Aircraft Performance,

Flight Planning and Weight and Balance issues. Additionally, Joachim

was appointed to the environmental coordinator for the ight operations

sector. Within the scope of this task, Capt. Scheiderer has been responsible

for the planning and coordination of the airlines fuel saving measures.

He successfully developed and implemented the cost index operation

concept within Lufthansa CityLine, making it possible to create fully totalcost optimized trajectories for regional aircraft. Today he is focusing on

improving operational eciency by the ntroduction of adequate key

performance indicators.

Joachim Scheiderer holds a German university master degree in Industrial

Engineering with a course specialization in Trac System Engineering and

Corporate Management. In 2008 his rst book Angewandte Flugleistung

(Applied Aircraft Performance) was published at the renowned Springer

Verlag. The second one came out in 2010, named Human Factors im

Cockpit (Human Factors in the cockpit).

Joachim Scheiderer teaches Airline Management as a lecturer at the

Karlshochschule International University in Karlsruhe with a focus on

operational issues.

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