Airline Pre-order System for In-flight Item Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The airline industry faces challenges in accurately provisioning meals and non-food items during flights due to varying passenger demands, limited menu options, and lack of inventory control, leading to waste and lost sales.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows passengers to pre-order customized meals and items through a mobile app, integrating with airline systems for accurate forecasting and inventory management, enabling passengers to select from a diverse menu and ensuring items are available for delivery during travel events.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the airline uses traditional forecasting methods to provision meals 90 days before flights, then they can secure contracted caterers and plan budgets, but they cannot accurately reflect actual passenger demand leading to waste and lost sales
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary ordering actions by allowing passengers to pre-order meals and items before the flight. This advance ordering enables the airline to procure exactly what is needed, eliminating both over-provisioning waste and under-provisioning lost sales. The pre-ordering mechanism transforms traditional 90-day forecasting into real-time demand capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where passenger orders are continuously collected and used to adjust provisioning decisions. The airline receives real-time feedback on actual passenger preferences and adjusts meal and item provisioning accordingly, replacing static forecasting with dynamic demand-responsive provisioning.
2Quantity of substance
If the airline limits menu options to frequently ordered items, then they reduce waste from unsold items, but they lose sales opportunities from passengers wanting specific items
Solution Approach 1:
Passengers take control of their own meal and item selection through the pre-ordering system. Instead of the airline guessing what items to provision based on historical averages, each passenger independently selects what they want, ensuring 100% utilization of provisioned items and eliminating both waste and lost sales.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of menu diversity from fixed limited options to dynamically expandable based on individual passenger requests. By allowing customization and special item orders, the airline can provision a wider variety of items without increasing waste, as each item is ordered based on actual demand.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the airline allows unlimited menu customization, then they satisfy individual passenger needs, but they increase complexity in forecasting and provisioning
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-ordering system acts as an intermediary between passenger preferences and airline provisioning operations. It captures complex individual demands, aggregates them by flight, and translates them into straightforward provisioning instructions for caterers, shielding the airline's operational systems from the complexity of individual customization requests.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges individual passenger orders into consolidated flight-level provisioning requests. By aggregating customized orders across all passengers for a given flight, the airline receives unified procurement instructions that maintain simplicity in execution while supporting unlimited individual customization.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the airline locks in food orders 29 days before flight, then they secure pricing and prevent caterer changes, but they cannot adapt to last-minute demand changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs the ordering action preliminarily but maintains flexibility through staged cutoffs. Passengers can modify orders up to a specified deadline before the flight, allowing the airline to lock in pricing and caterer assignments while still accommodating last-minute demand changes within the allowable window.
Solution Approach 2:
The provisioning system transitions from static locked-in orders to dynamic adjustable orders. The cutoff mechanism creates a dynamic window where orders can be modified based on actual passenger behavior, transforming the rigid 29-day lock into a flexible system that adapts to real-time demand while maintaining operational stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method allowing greatly improved flexibility to provide items for purchase to a traveler for a travel event while at the same time minimizing the estimations of items to be stocked by the carrier for the travel event. The system and method allow for adjustments of the items ordered and may prompt the user to select alternative items if an ordered item becomes unavailable prior to the travel event.