Final Report
Case Study
(1) Gate Turnaround at Southwest Airlines (Chapter Six)
(2) Constraint Management at Southwest Airlines (Chapter Seven)
(3) Lean Systems at Autoliv (Chapter Eight)
德瑞克(Derek Silkebaken) D974557
2012年1月2日
Chapter 6 Planning Capacity
Video Case: Gate Turnaround at Southwest Airlines
Q1. How can Capacity and utilization be measured at an airline such as SWA?
Answer: Capacity is the maximum rate of output of a process or a system. And utilization is measured as the ratio of average output rate to maximum capacity. In Southwest, capacity can be measured in available seat-miles (AMS) pre month. Therefore, utilization can be measured as the ratio of average seat-mile rate to maximum seat-miles.
Q2. Which factors can adversely impact turn-around time as SWA?
Answer: There many factors can adversely impact turn-around time as SWA. The aircraft has to be served by the ground operations team for its next departure. The grounds operations team consists of a baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight baggage the ground operations team consists of baggage transfer driver who has responsibility for getting connecting flight bags to baggage claim for passenger pick-up, a lavatory truck driver who handles restroom receptacle drainage, a lead gate to handle baggage carts and track incoming and outgoing bag counts, and a bin agent to manage baggage and cargo inside the plane. In the same time, the provisioning truck has to restock supplies such as drinks and snacks. The fuel truck has to load fuel to the airplane. If any unexpected thing happens during the maintenance, it might slow down the flow of operations. Meanwhile, if the passengers can deplane and enplane as schedule, it is another concern. Anything from weather delays to unexpected maintenance issue at the gate can slow down the flow of operations and adversely impact turn-around time.
Q3. How does Southwest Airlines know they