Qantas and analytics

[Conrad_S]

I was at an event yesterday where the Qantas CTO gave a presentation on work their quite small analytics team were doing. He made a couple of points that some on here may find interesting.
1. They can now do yield management for any bookable flight in minutes instead of half a day.
2. There is a project underway to predict possible critical failures that will impact operations from the mass of unstructured data coming from engines and aircraft systems.
I thought the 2nd project in particular was interesting as it raises so many issues on how the use of information would impact on the workforce and operations.
Incidentally I found it a good presentation that communicated a clear and effectively managed strategy.

 

[OATEK]

Good to hear about very practical uses of disparate data for more important outcomes than say developing a marketing program. Agree the second point sounds very interesting, no doubt correlating precursors to an event based on maintenance records, inspections etc.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Was there any mention of if QF has data on pax.
I am large girth (wide round the waist/105kgs), and have on several occasions, wanted that last seat on the Dash8 400 back before the cargo hold.
I pick my seat when booking as SG, but then OLCI gives me overwing.
So they (QF) must know a pax's weight or something like that.
Its never happened for my 737 flights.

 

[eminere]

Was there any mention of if QF has data on pax.
I am large girth (wide round the waist/105kgs), and have on several occasions, wanted that last seat on the Dash8 400 back before the cargo hold.
I pick my seat when booking as SG, but then OLCI gives me overwing.
So they (QF) must know a pax's weight or something like that.
Its never happened for my 737 flights.

How do you do that? Advance seat selection isn't available on Dash 8 operated flights, just a window or aisle preference. You can only select a specific seat when checking in.

 

[RooFlyer]

I was at an event yesterday where the Qantas CTO gave a presentation on work their quite small analytics team were doing. He made a couple of points that some on here may find interesting.
1. They can now do yield management for any bookable flight in minutes instead of half a day.
2. There is a project underway to predict possible critical failures that will impact operations from the mass of unstructured data coming from engines and aircraft systems.
I thought the 2nd project in particular was interesting as it raises so many issues on how the use of information would impact on the workforce and operations.
Incidentally I found it a good presentation that communicated a clear and effectively managed strategy.

I'm glad QF are doing this, and thanks for reporting back; however re

1) I'm probably not understanding what they/you mean by 'do yield management', but when I have requested a J Award seat over the phone, going back a number of years (there being none showing on-line on the date I wanted), the rep has put me on hold and asked 'yield management' if they would release a seat; the answer has come back yes or no in 3-5 minutes.

2) Why on earth would that data be 'unstructured' at present? Surely the predictive thing is one of the things that the manufacturers have been providing that data facility for, for many years?

 

[OATEK]

RE:

2) Why on earth would that data be 'unstructured' at present? Surely the predictive thing is one of the things that the manufacturers have been providing that data facility for, for many years?

I think the unstructured data is really just talking about disparate data sets, as chances are all the data is structured to some extent if captured in a db system unless it is say free-text data from an ageing flat-file system. My guess is they are aggregating from multiple systems, all with different structures, classification schemes etc, and then running the analysis.

 

[Conrad_S]

I'm glad QF are doing this, and thanks for reporting back; however re

1) I'm probably not understanding what they/you mean by 'do yield management', but when I have requested a J Award seat over the phone, going back a number of years (there being none showing on-line on the date I wanted), the rep has put me on hold and asked 'yield management' if they would release a seat; the answer has come back yes or no in 3-5 minutes.

2) Why on earth would that data be 'unstructured' at present? Surely the predictive thing is one of the things that the manufacturers have been providing that data facility for, for many years?

By yield mgt I think the meaning was they can look at actual bookings compared to historical bookings and predicted loads and adjust pricing much more flexibly than previously. It probably does impact on award release as well.

Unstructured means the source files are using multiple data models, formats and layouts. For instance the data files from the flight control systems would be likely to have different fields and data model to the data from the engine management systems. I'm aware of the service provided by the manufacturers but I presume this is more closely integrated with their operational model.
In a practical sense I think this throws up all sorts of challenges to existing business practices for them. For instance if the model indicates there is a 10% chance of a failure impacting on the MEL. Where does the current practice of the engineers or pilots making decisions on if the flight proceeds? Do dispatch staff keep those aircraft on routes close to a maintenance base.

 

[Conrad_S]

Was there any mention of if QF has data on pax.
I am large girth (wide round the waist/105kgs), and have on several occasions, wanted that last seat on the Dash8 400 back before the cargo hold.
I pick my seat when booking as SG, but then OLCI gives me overwing.
So they (QF) must know a pax's weight or something like that.
Its never happened for my 737 flights.

Although the CTO looked quite fit I didn't see any evidence of fat shaming being part of there analytics strategy

 

[trippin_the_rift]

By yield mgt I think the meaning was they can look at actual bookings compared to historical bookings and predicted loads and adjust pricing much more flexibly than previously. It probably does impact on award release as well.

Unstructured means the source files are using multiple data models, formats and layouts. For instance the data files from the flight control systems would be likely to have different fields and data model to the data from the engine management systems. I'm aware of the service provided by the manufacturers but I presume this is more closely integrated with their operational model.
In a practical sense I think this throws up all sorts of challenges to existing business practices for them. For instance if the model indicates there is a 10% chance of a failure impacting on the MEL. Where does the current practice of the engineers or pilots making decisions on if the flight proceeds? Do dispatch staff keep those aircraft on routes close to a maintenance base.

Not a bad way to use data especially as it saves time from air->landing->engineering to diagnose a problem -> decision. It could help with replacement parts, calling up the new crew, catering and a host of other airline components which piece together and keep operations flowing smoothly. All part of the just in time/SS approach.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

In my preferences in profile I put in rear but do OLCI.
Try it if you fly the Dash 8 with OLCI.

 

[eminere]

In my preferences in profile I put in rear but do OLCI.
Try it if you fly the Dash 8 with OLCI.

If flying on a Dash 8 you cannot select a specific seat number in advance, such as at time of booking. You can only nominate a window or aisle preference. When check in opens you can then select your specific seat.

 

[RichardMEL]

In my preferences in profile I put in rear but do OLCI.
Try it if you fly the Dash 8 with OLCI.

Exactly. you're putting a preference in, but not a specific seat until OLCI. At that point the system most likely is trying to offer you the more forward option, and/or airport ops have spread the load of pax out to distribute weight (and this can still change pre-departure if the w&b is out and the crew decide people should move - I've seen it on smaller DH8's).

At any rate as for your question about weight.. uh don't you think that if it came out that QF were keeping data on people's weight (and btw since nobody gets on a scale before boarding flights. except for that airline in Tonga or Somoa , how would they KNOW to keep that info?) it would also cause an outcry as already aluded to (eg: "Fat shaming"). It's one thing to keep info if someone is say disabled and requires wheelchair or other assistance, it's something else to note if they're heavy or light or just right. Not to mention the fact that people's weight and size can fluctuate over time.

Anyway practically there's no way they would keep info on weight given they don't ever record it in the first place, and even if they did and kept that data that's grounds for some sort of legal action I'd imagine...

my 2 cents.

 

[basso]

Not too long ago, this bonus paragraph was added to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions/

In order to generate consumer insights about Members, Qantas may collect and combine personal information about the Member from third parties or public sources (eg Census data) and Qantas may disclose and share that personal information. This includes being able to better understand a Member's preferences and interests, personalise their experience, enhance the products and services they receive, and to tell them about products and services.

Interesting.....

 

[jb747]

Presumably they'll be able to tell you you've had an engine failure the day after it happens.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not too long ago, this bonus paragraph was added to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions/

In order to generate consumer insights about Members, Qantas may collect and combine personal information about the Member from third parties or public sources (eg Census data) and Qantas may disclose and share that personal information. This includes being able to better understand a Member's preferences and interests, personalise their experience, enhance the products and services they receive, and to tell them about products and services

Interesting.....

(my bolding)

That's entirely consistent with my long held assertion that Qantas FF Members are now chiefly a product to be marketed to third parties, and not the principal object of the scheme. Qantas Loyalty markets its database (with analytics) of ~10 Million members (supposedly) to many third parties - supermarkets, golf clubs, tech providers etc. The third parties get to market their goods and services to the QFF members through Qantas FF by buying QFF points from Qantas Loyalty (and maybe other fees), which adds considerably to the Qantas bottom line.

The fact that they have to provide a few lounges to members, and the odd 'free' flight, to keep them sweet, is a small price to pay to keep the database intact and marketable.