Scheduling Engine Integration

Owned by Daniele Baldon
Last updated: Oct 18, 2023
4 min read

These are the main features introduced by the use of the Scheduling Engine as the new NuvolOps FTL Engine for crew scheduling.

Next Minimum Rest After

The Next Minimum Rest or Rest After will now serve as the master rest. It will be the rest extended after longer duty periods or due to crossing time zones.

The duration of the Rest Before the FDP will only depend on whether the departure is from or away from home base.

Example:

If the crew is crossing several time zones during a rotation, the Next Minimum Rest after the FDP will be extended.

Logs

To provide you with enhanced insights into your scheduling processes, we have introduced the Scheduling Engine Log Items and Validation Error Complete Message fields.

These new fields, which can be found inside the Flight Duty Period (FDP) record, offer comprehensive information regarding FDPs and rest durations as well as any scheduling unfeasibility information.

Example:
In this example, the Next Minimum Rest after the FDP is extended because of an FDP crossing time zones.

 

The Log History in Crew Board will also explain why the FDP has been increased and the amount of crossed time zones.

 

New Nomenclature

Scheduling Options

The Scheduling Engine can calculate several scheduling options which correspond to different Maximum Daily FDP scenarios allowed by the AOC FTL rules:

  • a non-extended maxFDP (Basic)

  • a 1h planned maxFDP extension (Extension) with a rest before and after 2h extension

  • a 1h planned maxFDP extension (Extension) with a rest after 4h extension

  • a max FDP extended by Split Duty (Split Duty)

  • a max FDP by the use of extensions due to In-flight Rest (Augmented Crew)

Basic

A non-extended max FDP.

Split Duty

The use of Split Duty during an FDP.

Extension

The max FDP 1h planned extension.

 

Absorption Options

Standalone

The flight leg is the only event in the FDP.

Absorbed Left

The flight leg is included in the previous FDP (is absorbed into the FDP immediately on the left).

 

Absorbed Right

The flight leg is included in the next FDP (is absorbed into the FDP immediately on the right).

 

Error Messages

The Scheduling Engine system runs several calculations in parallel to increase the system’s efficiency. For this reason, error messages are longer than those seen in the past.

To assist schedulers, the error message displays all the potential scheduling options grouped by their option titles, as explained above, along with the reason that option is not feasible.

Based on your feedback, we will have some enhancements in the coming weeks to only display the key FTL error messages.

Mandatory Weekly Rest (only active for some AOCs)

A crew member is not allowed to be scheduled on a flight without a valid planned weekly rest. The following error is returned:

Never more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the start of the next.

Events that count as weekly rest (if they are longer than 36h and if they include 2 local nights):

  • Rest Period

  • Days Off

  • Vacation

  • SDO

 

Observer event after FDP not included in the FDP

The new system configuration does not consider a Crew Member operating as an Observer on a FL part of the Flight Crew.
Hence, an Observer count as a flight duty period only if performed immediately prior to a flight or prior to a series of flight.

If you have any concerns about the accuracy of the configuration, please feel free to raise them, and we can have a discussion to address any discrepancies