System and Configuration
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      Flight Positioning Logic

      This article explains the logic behind automatic flight positionings. It covers how positioning legs are added or removed based on various settings and scenarios.

      Key Concepts

      1. Auto-positioning: Removes all existing positioning legs and adds new ones based on specific logic.
      2. Positioning Strategy: Determines how flights are positioned before the first leg and after the last leg of a booking.
      3. Schedule Gap: The maximum idle time allowed before repositioning an aircraft to its base.
      4. Actual Schedule vs. Base Positioning: The system can position flights based on the actual schedule or always to/from the base.

      Configuration Options

      The positioning logic can be configured through various settings. These options are available to users depending on their access rights under Settings/Configuration/Common.

      Available Settings:

      1. Create Positioning Flights Automatically: Toggle to enable/disable automatic creation of positioning flights.
      2. Position on actual schedule for the next N hours: Set the time window for using the actual schedule for positioning.
      3. Position always to/from base after the next N hours: Set the time after which flights will always be positioned to/from base.
      4. Position to base if there's a schedule gap of more than N hours (same trip): Set the maximum gap allowed within the same trip before positioning to base.
      5. Position to base if there's a schedule gap of more than N hours (other trip): Set the maximum gap allowed between trips before positioning to base.
      6. Schedule position to live leg only (pax or cargo): Toggle to consider only passenger or cargo legs for positioning.
      7. Positioning Strategy: Choose between Home Base and Floating Base for positioning flights.

      Positioning Strategy

      1. Before the First Leg and After the Last Leg of the Booking:

        • The positioning strategy is determined based on the departure time of the passenger (pax) leg.
        • If the time between the current time (time of calculation) and the departure time is less than the specified “Position on actual schedule for the next N hours…”, the “Actual Schedule” strategy is used.
        • Otherwise, the default Positioning Strategy (Home Base or Floating Base) is applied.
        • Users can select whether positioning flights are created from/to:
          • Home Base: Always positions to/from the designated home base of the aircraft.
          • Closest Floating Base: Positions to/from the nearest available floating base for the aircraft.

      2. Position Always to/from Base After the Next N Hours:

        • Any flight scheduled after the specified N hours will be sent to the base, regardless of other options.

      3. Between Pax Legs of the Booking:

        • Positioning legs are added only if the gap between flights exceeds the maximum gap specified by the “Position to base if there’s a schedule gap of more than N hours” option.
        • The positioning flight created here is always to the base (fixed or floating), considering the actual schedule.

      Additional Settings

      • Positioning to Base or Next Scheduled Leg:

        • This setting determines if the positioning should be to the base or the next scheduled leg.
        • It applies to positioning legs back to base during layover days, the first and last legs of a trip, and when creating positioning legs based on the actual schedule.

      • Max Gap to Other Trips:

        • If set to zero, the logic will always use the home base for positioning before the first pax leg and after the last pax leg.

      • Schedule Position to Live Leg Only (Pax or Cargo):

        • Users can choose to consider only the live legs of the actual schedule (pax or cargo).

      Notes

      • Positioning is not performed for trips in the past.

      Scenario Examples

      Scenario 1:

      • An aircraft has no flights on its schedule until March. In March, there is a flight from Shanghai to Peking.
      • Settings: For the next 7 days (168 hours), position on the actual schedule, then from/to home base.
      • New request: Paris-Madrid flight for tomorrow.
        • Since it is within the 7-day window, the system creates the positioning based on the actual schedule.
        • Normally, the system would position the plane to Shanghai, where it would remain for 3 months, which is undesirable.
        • The system uses the Schedule Gap setting to detect that there is no flight within the schedule gap timeframe after the last leg, so it positions the plane back to the home base instead of Shanghai.

      Scenario 2:

      • Set Position for base schedule gap to 3 days.
        • If there are 3 or more layover days during a trip, the system will create layover days to base.
        • If the trip is within the window to create positioning legs based on the actual schedule, it will still create repos to base if there are 3 or more layover days.
        • If the previous scheduled leg is within 3 days, the system uses the schedule. However, if there are 3 or more layover days, it continues to create positioning legs to base.
        • For future trips, if there is a leg on the schedule 6 months in the future and a trip scheduled for tomorrow, it will create a repo leg to the leg that is 6 months in the future.