Technical And Economic Evaluation Of Airline Fleet Introduction Program

Fleet introduction decision is the most important business decision of an airline,which is directly related to the safety and efficiency of the company’s operation and determines the competitiveness of the enterprise in the air transport market.Therefore,how to guarantee the scientificity and rationality of fleet introduction program is particularly important for airlines.From the perspective of airlines operation management,this paper analyzes the factors that need to be taken into account in the fleet introduction process and summarizes the technology and economic evaluation methods in the current fleet introduction decision-making.The main research contents are as follows:(1)Technical performance analysis.This paper summarizes the analyzing methods commonly used in the analysis of takeoff performance,landing performance,en-route performance and special operational limitations of aircraft technical performance,with emphasis on the analysis of the maximum takeoff weight,maximum landing weight,payload-range,fuel consumption and other parameters of aircraft from aircraft manuals and software.(2)Economic analysis.The composition of direct operating cost is analyzed and the calculation model of direct operating cost is summarized.This paper summarizes the factors affecting the airlines fare level and load factor,and summarizes its calculation model.According to the plan of airline fleet capacity,a net cash flow calculation model considering market changes is constructed.The net present value(NPV)is used as a comprehensive indicator to evaluate the technology and economy of the introduced program,and calculate the return on investment of the fleet.(3)Case study.Simulating the operation of an airline based in Chengdu using wide-bodied aircrafts to carry out the operation,this paper analyzes the technology and economy of B787-9 and A350-900 as alternative models for the fleets,and evaluates the technology and economy of A350-900 fleet and B787-9 fleet on ten routes such as "Chengdu Shuangliu airport-Beijing Capital airport" and "Chengdu Shuangliu airport-Shanghai Pudong airport".It is concluded that A350-900 aircraft fleet and B787-9 aircraft fleet are feasible to introduce in terms of technology and economy on the planned flight routes.In terms of technical performance,the operations in other airports have no restrictions except that the takeoff weight in Kunming Changshui airport is limited a little bit.In terms of economy,the net present value of the B787-9 fleet is greater than that of the A350-900 fleet,and the introduction value of the B787-9 fleet is theoretically superior.