Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
  • G06Q50/40—Business processes related to the transportation industry
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/02—Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/04—Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem"
  • G06Q10/047—Optimisation of routes or paths, e.g. travelling salesman problem

Definitions

• the present invention pertains generally to the way air travel is booked and 5carrier logistics managed for the air taxi industry. More specifically, it pertains to an air taxi logistics system wherein the system automatically manages logistics by dynamically assigning elements such as passengers, air crews, and source and destination airports based on factors such as, but not limited to: proximity to street addresses of origin and destination, air and ground delays, weather, additional bookings, and a multitude of Ooperational factors for the air carrier.
• ground transportation can be linked to this system, such that the system manages a passenger's ground transport from the origin street address to the aircraft and, after the flight, from the aircraft to the destination street address. 5
• the TBM 700 has a maximum cruise of 300 kts, a service ceiling of 31 ,000 feet, and a range of 1500NM.
• the TBM is slightly slower, flies 10,000 feet lower, and has greater range and payload than Very Light Jets.
• the present inventor is not aware of any prior art system that seeks to dynamically optimize cost, safety, and total travel time by considering factors such as: distance and traffic conditions between each passenger's origination street address and prospective source airports; distance and traffic lOconditions between the destination airport and the destination street address; terrain, flight envelope, and difficulty of takeoff and landing at prospective airports under various conditions; pilots' flight experience at prospective source and destination airports; flight capabilities of available aircraft, including Very Light Jets; air traffic conditions; and weather conditions en route and at prospective airports.
• An air travel optimization system comprising a program that dynamically selects source and destination airports by performing real time assessment of travel factors between a traveler's origination street address and prospective source airports andbetween prospective destination airports and said traveler's destination street address.
• Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of the major steps and factors considered for 5determining air taxi logistics, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 2 shows a table of the most common routes assigned between AIR PORT A and AIR PORT B indexed by altitude, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 3 shows an automatic assignment algorithm based on fuel costs, in lOaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.
• Private air taxi can provide substantial per trip time savings.
• minimized ground travel to the closer airport, streamlined security and check in procedures, flawless direct luggage transfer, and lOreduced aircraft taxi and clearance times will save hours over airline travel, and these savings will be calculated and displayed versus airliner schedules.
• Time savings will be most dramatic when a private air taxi system can eliminate the need for interconnection on regional flights, or when the system's schedule flexibility allows a day trip rather than an overnight stay.
• an embodiment 0could use an air travel logistics system that has a decision logic comprising means for selecting at least one optimized flight route based on travelers' origin/destination address data pairs and said system could function dynamically and make choices based on changing conditions and requests.
• a system could include decision logic that evaluates ground travel criteria such as:
• a system could interface lOwith ground transportation on both sides of the flight such as: Limo service dispatched to pick up the customer
• a system could evaluate 15 operational criteria such as:
• a system could include decision logic that evaluates safety criteria such as: Wind direction Runway conditions Weather
• Minimum standards for weather conditions set by the air taxi carrier and enforced by the system e.g. if weather ceilings are less than 300', the carrier may opt not to allow operations to that airport
• a system could optimize the in-flight routing and altitudes based on factors such as: Predicted winds Preferred traffic routes Safety margins
• a system could plan fuel stops to minimize cost to the air taxi operator based on:
• Feeds to other ground transport systems e.g. a light rail transport system
• a system could automatically send reminders or notify travelers of any change in schedule or route:
• a method may comprise the following steps, as shown by way of example in Figure 1 :
• the system begins to run an algorithm to optimize route for factor(s) such as cost, time, and safety.
• the system displays source and destination airports and schedule along with a Summary of Time Saved by using the system to select alternate airports rather than use main airports.
• the system coordinates with external entities as follows: a. The system arranges ground transportation (such as a limo service) before and after the flight and keeps the ground transportation service updated for flight delays and expected arrival times. b. The system optimizes the in flight routing and altitudes based on predicted winds, preferred traffic routes, and safety margins. c. The system optimizes any required fuel stop(s) for the flight based on: i. Air taxi operator cost ii. Landing fees iii. Fuel cost iv. Discount programs v. Safety vi. Wind direction vii. Runway conditions viii. Weather and the air taxi carrier's minimum weather condition standards enforced by the system d.
• ground transportation such as a limo service
• the System notifies the traveler of any changes to origination or destination airport by pager, voicemail, email, wireless PDA and WAP based interface, or browser.
• the system handles operational concerns such as: i. Proximity of available air crews ii. Dynamic routing for links to other flights iii. Airport delays iv. NOTAMs impacting an airport v. TFRs impacting an airport vi. Maintenance availability
• the successful air taxi operator will need a real time system that, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, can minimize Non Revenue Flight Miles (NRFM), Non Revenue Flight Operations (NRFO), Landing Fees, Fuel Surcharges, and Flight Delays while optimizing the passenger experience.
• NRFM Non Revenue Flight Miles
• NRFO Non Revenue Flight Operations
• Landing Fees Fuel Surcharges, and Flight Delays while optimizing the passenger experience.
• lOan algorithm in accordance with an embodiment of the invention could receive origin and destination address input from a user, and then automatically evaluate relevant criteria to determine optimal aircraft selection and return results to the user.
• Telecom network traffic engineering systems provide least cost routing 5support for billions of transactions per month. These systems demonstrate the scalability and fault tolerance required to manage large scale air carrier class operations based on fleets of Very Light Jets.
• the telecom numbers dwarf the calculations required to optimize air taxi operations; however, as the number of passenger bookings, Very Light Jets in service, and airline crews grows, the optimization problem does get more Ocalculation intensive (grows logarithmically), while the responsiveness of real time dispatch must never be compromised.
• the best approach to managing this is the high speed parallel processing that has been deployed in the telecom space.
• each flight can be scored based on flight crew (experience, familiarity, and crew rest), weather (en route, source0and destination) and destination (precision approach, circling approach) metrics, and high risk operations can be flagged for review by the Air Taxi Operator.
• the review can include checking for sufficient fuel and NBAA IFR reserves, proper weight and balance, creation of seating charts, and any required fuel loading changes based on customers with over gross weight profiles (luggage or passengers).
• an automated security check against homeland security watch lists can be conducted on each crew member and passenger prior to each flight.
• Optional criminal database checks may also be incorporated.
• Air Taxi operations which represent a growing risk factor for terrorism.
• Route optimization depends on knowledge of the routes most likely to be assigned between airport city pairs. The use of direct flight miles is insufficient for routeoptimization purposes.
• Figure 2 shows a table of the most common routes assigned between AIR PORT A and AIR PORT B indexed by altitude.Note the ability to fly more direct at 40,000 feet than at lower altitudes. Most passenger jets cannot climb directly to the 41,000 foot service ceiling of the Very Light Jets; conversely a Very Light Jet can make this climb without intermediate stops to burn fuel. Understanding and modeling these performance characteristics can drive savings in fuel and time. Conversely the typical Very Light Jet will not be able to fly directly from AIR PORT A to AIR PORT B with sufficient fuel reserves, and the time required to climb to altitude must be set against the need for a fuel stop and the second climb/descent. 5

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• 2007
  • 2007-12-22 WO PCT/US2007/026269 patent/WO2008079385A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-12-22 EP EP07863242A patent/EP2126830A4/de not_active Withdrawn

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