High season in aviation – and how to get the most out of it

Summer months are generally the most exhausting period of the year for aviation professionals, with the greatest seasonal peaks in terms of flight traffic and airport congestion. It is especially apparent for major travel destinations, but almost any operator can feel a substantial increase of workload during those few months.

There are always two sides of the same coin as an increased revenue comes at a cost of an excessive stress and encumbrance. Our goal at Leon is to provide a substantial relief to flight organizations by streamlining the whole operational process and including features that help to make the most out of summertime challenges.

We would like to share with you some ideas on how to manage those moving parts with ways of improving it even further.

Have everyone in the loop

Working at a short notice may be extremely difficult during the peak season as spikes in traffic impact the availability of airport services, slots and permits. Therefore, it is even more critical to stimulate fast response rates by using appropriate tools.

Information is gold and exactly because of that you should be getting the communication with your team, clients and third parties as fluid as possible. With the risk of flight delays and potential cancellations, we have augmented Leon with mechanisms for fast and efficient information flow. Dispatchers can easily complement each other with the robust checklist that includes every small detail of operations, from assigned slots to the status of PPR and required landing permits. Everyone can benefit from persistent flight status updates thanks to EUROCONTROL integration and SITA connection with ARINC. Keeping every party informed (including airport handlers and client representatives) is even easier with our fully customizable MVT messages, automatically sent at a desired moment of time.

Your flight crew would definitely want to be as much up-to-date as possible, so apart from the aforementioned features they are constantly in the loop either via Leon mobile app or email notifications.

Manage the available slots

Landing and take-off slots during the high season often come in short supply, which is reflected in shorter timeframes available and the necessity of submitting slot requests significantly ahead of normal schedule. Once again, as flight statuses change in the blink of an eye, Leon comes to rescue with an automated MVT communication. The level of slot scarcity may look even worse when it comes to parking slots as many airports have very limited parking stands that are usually reserved well in advance. If that is the case, Leon can suggest alternate airports in the vicinity for the purpose of repositioning.

Apart from airport slots, it is wise to maintain control over landing permits for the most congested flight destinations (if they are required), even though - depending on the country and the airport - a provided PPR should suffice in many cases.

Keep those RFQs coming

Reaping the increased rewards of summer season may also be challenging if your Sales department cannot keep up with the pace other departments are setting. Replacing few disjointed tools with a software that interconnects workflows of different departments can really make a difference during that period of time.

Leon Sales has been designed to accurately reflect the workflow of charter sales, with many features helping to speed up the quotation process and improve the communication between Sales and OPS departments. In two recently released articles we have covered quite a lot of new features offered by our revamped Sales module – you can find them here and here.

Use external data sources for greater viability

It is also recommended to be always up-to-date in terms of fuel uplift and available airport services. Busy summer months affect handlers in a similiar manner as slot coordinators, therefore requesting services in proper advance is, in most cases, a good practice for any dispatcher.

Having all the data in one place works wonders too. Due to integrations with key data platforms (AC-U-KWIK, AirportCharges), Leon grants access to an extensive data source of airports, FBOs/handlers and helps to analyse prices between available destinations. Integrations with FuelerLinx and UVair are on the other hand unmatched if you want to keep the competitive edge for fuel pricing (with Leon saving the negotiated fuel prices for your convenience).

Summer or not, our Sales team is always happy to help you with your enquiries.

And if you have already joined the community of 200+ companies using Leon for their operational excellence, our amazing Support team is at your disposal.