Improving Revenue Management Decision Making for Airlines by Evaluating Analyst-Adjusted Passenger Demand Forecasts

To maximize revenue, airline revenue management analysts (RMAs) attempt to protect the right number of seats for late-booking, high-revenue-generating passengers from low-valued leisure passengers. Simulation results in the past showed that a major airline can generate approximately $500 million per year through efficient RM operations. Accurate passenger demand forecasts are required, because reduced forecast error significantly improves revenue. RMAs often adjust the system forecasts to improve revenue opportunity. Analysis of system forecast performance and analyst adjustment is complex, because one must account for all unseen demands throughout the life of a flight. This article proposes a method to account for unseen demand and evaluate forecast performance (adjusted or unadjusted) through a forecast monitoring system. Initial results from one major airline's origin-destination market data justify the value of RMA forecasting adjustments.

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