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M.Sc. In Air Transport Management Program  › Courses  › Network, Fleet and Schedule Strategic Planning
Network, Fleet and Schedule Strategic Planning
Course Instructors

The course instructors for the Network, Fleet and Schedule Strategic Planning will be Prof.Dr. Peter Belobaba from MIT, Dr. Michael Wittman from InterVistas, and Alex Heiter and Bruce Tecklenburg from Boeing. Their bio can be seen below:

Prof.Dr. Peter Belobaba
Dr. Michael Wittman
Boeing Team

Course Information

General information about the course can be accessed via this link.

Course Intent

Overview of airline planning processes, with a focus on economic issues and their relationship to operations planning models and decision support tools. Examination of industry practice and emerging methods for fleet planning, route network design, scheduling and revenue management, with emphasis on the interactions between the components of airline management and profit objectives in competitive environments.

Course Assessment

3 Team Assignments during the class week: 45% of overall grade
Final Exam: 55% of overall grade

Course Textbook

There is a required textbook for the class given below:
  • Belobaba, P., Odoni, A., and Barnhart, C., (eds.), The Global Airline Industry, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 2009.
Lecture Notes

Main lecture notes are given in the table below:

Lecture Notes  
Module 01 Airline Industry Overview
Module 02 Airline Current Business Environment
Module 03 World & Regional Capacity Analysis
Module 04 Reserved
Module 05 Airline Network Strategies
Module 06 Airline Planning Process
Module 07 Introduction to Fleet Planning
Module 08 Evaluation of Alternative Aircraft
Module 09 Fleet Evaluation and Financial Analysis
Module 10 Fundamentals of Airline Markets
Module 11 Estimation of Demand and Market Share
Module 12 Operating Costs
Module 13 Airline Network Structures
Module 14 Route Planning and Profit Evaluation
Module 15 Modeling Passenger Choice of Flight Options
Module 16 Overview of Boeing Planning Tools
Module 17 Airline Schedule Development
Module 18 Demand Load and Spill Analysis
Module 19 Fleet Assignment
Module 20 From Planning to Operations
Module 21 New Market Forecasting
Module 22 Evolution of Airline Revenue Management
Module 23 Network Revenue Management
Module 24 New Developments in Revenue Management

Course Readings

Reading materials are given in the table below:

Course Readings  
  Measuring Airline Profit
  Coldstart Fleet Assignment at Delta

Course Assignments

Assignments will be given during the course.

Assignment 1  

Fleet Planning Assignment Presentation
Fleet Planning Assignment
Excel Sheet

Assignment 2  
  Route Profitability Evaluation Presentation
Route Profitability Evaluation Assignment
Excel Sheet

Assignment 3  
  Route Fleet Assignment Presentation
Route Fleet Assignment
Spill Table
Excel Sheet

Extra Material

Additional materials used during the course can be found in the table below:

Extra Material  
  The Rise and Competitive Advantages of Turkish Airlines
Tornado Spreadsheet