British Airways
and Qantas
have successfully implemented the latest release of the Sabre AirFlite SlotManager system, enabling their flight schedulers and slot portfolio managers to efficiently request and maintain their slot portfolios.The two airlines, which are both members of the oneworld alliance, join fellow leading carriers Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, El Al, and Japan Airlines in using Release 10 of the product.

SlotManager will now be used to manage more slots in Europe and the Asia Pacific region than any other slot management product—reducing slot request preparation time by between 50 to 90 percent and allowing operators to complete slot requests in hours, rather than weeks, compared to manual preparation.

SlotManager can also be used to help airlines quickly evaluate and obtain slots for major last-minute schedule changes and identify new opportunities for taking advantage of underutilized slots. It ensures slot requests are in line with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) standard and minimizes the chances of losing valuable historic slots.

Robert Moran, Slots and Schedules Coordination Manager, Fleet and Network Planning at British Airways said: “Our slots are very valuable assets, and it is critical that we get the best use out of them. SlotManager provides decision support capabilities that will help us to identify opportunities. In addition, using SlotManager lets us manage our slot portfolio from a single centralized database providing multi-user access to the slot team.”

Hope Antzoulatos, Manager of Schedule Development Long Haul at Qantas, added: “We need to produce slot requests quickly and accurately. Using SlotManager as an integrated part of the AirFlite system enables us to generate slot data for initial submissions and will allow us to make changes directly from the schedules maintained in Schedule Manager.”

Both airlines will be benefiting from the competitive advantages of shared interface and database information by integrating SlotManager with the Sabre AirFlite Schedule Manager. This system simplifies scheduling tasks previously performed manually, making time available for schedulers to continuously explore better solutions.

“Now more than ever, it is vital that airlines can get maximum use of their valuable slots,” said Vinay Dube, vice president of Sabre Airline Solutions, Europe Middle-East and Africa. “The SlotManager system prevents errors, increases productivity and minimizes rescheduling, allowing airlines to comprehensively manage slots.”

There are currently 25 airlines that have chosen SlotManager to manage their slots and maximize the usage of their slots.
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