Capacity Management as a Tool for Rationalizing the Commercial Potential of Aircraft

The presented study addresses a crucial problem for any type of passenger and cargo transport, which is filling the available capacity in an optimal way. Solving this problem for passenger aircraft involves rationalizing the potential of the aircraft's commercial capacity by combining the cargo and passenger components of payload. Examination of dispatch management processes associated with en route boarding on passenger flights shows that the key problems of related cargo services are caused by the lack of reliable assessment of the cargo capacity of passenger aircraft. The working hypothesis of this study implies that it is possible to obtain a reliable estimate of the weight characteristics of available capacity by processing post-flight statistics.

Aim. The study aims to examine the rationalization of the commercial capacity potential of passenger aircraft, which can be achieved by answering the question of how a passenger airline can reliably assess its cargo potential.

Tasks. To achieve the set aim, the authors comparatively analyze methods used by airlines to assess available capacity parameters with the actual characteristics according to post-flight statistics and further examine them using standard methods for processing statistical information.

Methods. This study uses multi-dimensional regression analysis along with standard scientific methods of cognition.

Results. The “weight” structure of a passenger flight is analyzed; all independent variables are examined using the multi-dimensional regression equation, and the most significant factors are identified; the weight parameters of available capacity are estimated with several levels of reliability at different levels of passenger sales.

Conclusions. The final model based on post-flight statistics shows an acceptable convergence of estimated and actual characteristics. Its practical application can improve the commercial efficiency of en route cargo services provided by passenger airlines by allowing managers to make informed decisions.

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