SITA’s New Hub Control Center Helps China Eastern Save Millions

China Eastern says it has recorded a 16% drop in staffing hours and a 60% drop in overtime for ground operations as a result of a new Hub Control Center (HCC) using SITA’s resource management technology.

The improved efficiencies are expected to deliver the airline savings of more than US$4 million in 2015.

The HCC covers resource, hub and turnaround management. During delays and disruption the HCC reallocates gates, ground tasks, suggests flight schedule changes and re-accommodates passengers, all in real time. For example, in the case of an incoming flight delay, the HCC has the overview of passenger connections and can arrange for a speedy transfer to the connecting flight.

“We have worked closely with SITA to develop our new HCC and the results we have seen from using SITA’s integrated technology for our ground operations are impressive. The cost savings we are experiencing will see the investment pay for itself in less than a year,” said Hu Zhenming, Chief Service Officer and General Director of Airport Service, China Eastern. “Importantly too, our operations are running more efficiently and our passengers are benefiting from improved service. Every minute counts in operations and now at our Hub Control Center, with SITA AirportResource Manager and the turnaround and transfer systems, we are making informed decisions in real time that are delivering improvements every day. Following our initial success we have now started the rollout to our regional hubs Beijing (PEK), Kunming (KMG) and Xian (XIY) and look forward to improved operations at these airports too.”

More than 8,000 staff run the ground handling operations at China Eastern’s two major hubs, Hongqiao (SHA) and Pudong (PVG), and close to 5,500 are managed with SITA AirportResource Manager. It handles the efficient allocation of staff to the more than 13,000 tasks for 1,100 flights each day. Operational information is fed into the systems, which use optimization algorithms developed by SITA with top university researchers.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA President, Asia Pacific, said, “A trend is emerging where airlines are looking to manage their network from a single location and to bridge their ground operations with existing Operational Control Centers. China Eastern, with its new Hub Control Center, is one of the first to reap the benefit of using data effectively, in real time, to make better decisions to improve operations every day. The airline is now providing better service to passengers. And the systems cross-utilize resources and enable collaborative decision making while delivering millions of dollars savings to the bottom line. Aircraft are expensive assets and shaving five minutes off time on the ground can make the difference between loss and profit.”