|
is CO yield management individualized?
In the late hours of the evening, I obviously have too much spare time if I'm musing about CO's yield management software. xyzzy's comment in another thread touched on CO's excellent yield management, and I've long wondered whether the software is individualized.
For example, if 5 passenger on a given EWR-SEA flight are connecting from BWI, does CO look only at historical data and conclude that 80% of BWI-EWR-SEA passengers show up? Alternatively, does CO look at profiles of passengers A - E and conclude that passenger A shows up 20% of the time whereas passengers B-E show up 100% of the time? Depending on the numbers, the results could be rather different. |
Originally Posted by Totoro
(Post 8893493)
In the late hours of the evening, I obviously have too much spare time if I'm musing about CO's yield management software. xyzzy's comment in another thread touched on CO's excellent yield management, and I've long wondered whether the software is individualized.
For example, if 5 passenger on a given EWR-SEA flight are connecting from BWI, does CO look only at historical data and conclude that 80% of BWI-EWR-SEA passengers show up? Alternatively, does CO look at profiles of passengers A - E and conclude that passenger A shows up 20% of the time whereas passengers B-E show up 100% of the time? Depending on the numbers, the results could be rather different. 1. The confidence levels would be too low. Most individual do not fly enough on a single airline to have significant statistics. And individual flying patterns can change very suddenly: change of jobs, locations, life circumstances... 2. It would be extremely expensive, and maybe provide only a marginal improvement over global statistics. 3. I just cannot imagine CO's IT being able to handle this! :p Just my $0.02 |
Originally Posted by enmascarado
(Post 8893557)
As interesting as the idea is, I do not think that this (individualized yield management) is the case. And there are several reasons for this:
1. The confidence levels would be too low. Most individual do not fly enough on a single airline to have significant statistics. And individual flying patterns can change very suddenly: change of jobs, locations, life circumstances... 2. It would be extremely expensive, and maybe provide only a marginal improvement over global statistics. 3. I just cannot imagine CO's IT being able to handle this! :p Just my $0.02 But as an improvement over global stats, you're probably right (and definitely right RE cost, unless they could convince the other carriers to license it and try to recover some of the costs). |
Originally Posted by enmascarado
(Post 8893557)
As interesting as the idea is, I do not think that this (individualized yield management) is the case. And there are several reasons for this:
1. The confidence levels would be too low. Most individual do not fly enough on a single airline to have significant statistics. And individual flying patterns can change very suddenly: change of jobs, locations, life circumstances... 2. It would be extremely expensive, and maybe provide only a marginal improvement over global statistics. 3. I just cannot imagine CO's IT being able to handle this! :p Just my $0.02 |
Originally Posted by Lafayetteflyer
(Post 8893750)
4. I just cannot imagine CO's main frame IBM 360 being able to handle it.
Yes... the one they bought from Ross Perot when he worked for IBM in the 1960s. LOL |
I don't know about this, but they most certainly take connections (and where they're coming from ) into account.
For example, the late afternoon/evening flights out of IAH have a lot of Caribbean or Latin American connections; and the evening flights out of EWR have a lot of Europe connections. They certainly take the int'l segment no-show factor into account for the domestic flights when overbooking. |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 8:27 am. |
This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.