Delay Management & Root Cause Analysis
Flight Operations › Network Operations Control · 19 L4 steps · 6 phases · 7 decision gates · Updated 2026-03-18 22:55
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Process Flow Diagram (BPMN)
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L4 Process Steps
| Step | Step Name | Role / Swim Lane | System | Input | Output | KPI | Dec? | Exc? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Phase 1 1.1 |
Monitor flight status vs published schedule | NOC Network Controller | SITA Airport Management System (AMS) | Real-time gate departure feeds, OPS messages, ACARS pushback events | Live flight status dashboard with variance-from-schedule flag | On-time departure (D0) ≥78%; delay detection latency <2 min of STD | N | N |
| 1.2 | Apply IATA delay threshold trigger rule | NOC Network Controller | Amadeus Altéa Operations Control (OC) | Actual vs scheduled departure time delta from AMS feed | Delay event record opened in Altéa OC with severity tier (Minor <15 min / Moderate 15–60 min / Severe >60 min) | 100% of delays ≥15 min captured within 3 min of threshold breach | Y | N |
| 1.3 | Assign IATA AHM 730 delay code to event | NOC Network Controller | Amadeus Altéa Operations Control (OC) | Initial cause report from handling agent, crew, or ATC | Primary IATA two-digit delay code + sub-code entered in Altéa OC event record | Delay code accuracy rate ≥94% (validated at post-ops audit); code entry within 10 min of ETD revision | N | Y |
Phase 2 2.1 |
Map downstream flight propagation impact | Network Operations Controller | Amadeus SkyWORKS (Schedule Edit module) | Delay event record from Altéa OC; rotational aircraft tail number; planned schedule SSIM | Propagation impact list — all subsequent flights on same tail affected with estimated knock-on delay per flight | Propagation analysis completed within 5 min of delay event creation; ≥95% of knock-on delays correctly identified | N | N |
| 2.2 | Check crew duty time legality under FAR Part 117 | Crew Coordinator — NOC | Jeppesen Crew Management Suite (CMS) | Crew pairing records, revised ETD/ETA, accumulated flight duty period (FDP) totals | Crew legality status per affected flight: Legal / At-limit / Illegal flag with exact remaining FDP minutes | Zero FAR Part 117 exceedances; crew illegality flag generated within 3 min of delay event propagation | Y | Y |
| 2.3 | Identify passenger misconnection risk | Passenger Services Controller | Amadeus Altéa Departure Control (DCS) | Passenger booking itineraries with MCT data; revised inbound ETA; connecting flight boarding-complete times | At-risk passenger list with booking reference, connection flight, and protection options (next available / hotel voucher eligible) | Misconnect identification completed before inbound landing (≥30 min ahead); protected reaccommodation rate ≥88% same-day | N | Y |
| 2.4 | Assess whether delay qualifies for EC 261 compensation | Passenger Services Controller | Amadeus Altéa Customer Management (ACM) | Delay magnitude; origin/destination country pair; delay cause classification (extraordinary vs controllable) | EC 261 / DOT eligibility flag per affected booking; duty-of-care obligations triggered (meal voucher, hotel, rebooking rights) | EC 261 eligibility flag applied within 5 min of 3-hour delay threshold; 100% of entitled passengers notified before next boarding call | Y | Y |
Phase 3 3.1 |
Generate recovery options — swap, absorb, or cancel | Network Operations Controller | Amadeus SkyWORKS (Recovery Workspace) | Propagation impact list; available spare aircraft inventory; crew availability matrix from Jeppesen CMS | Ranked recovery scenario list with estimated schedule recovery time (SRT) and cost-of-delay score per option | ≥3 ranked scenarios generated within 10 min of escalation trigger; SRT ≤45 min for Moderate tier delays | N | N |
| 3.2 | Evaluate aircraft swap feasibility in SkyMAX | Fleet Assignment Controller | Amadeus SkyMAX (Fleet Assignment Optimiser) | Candidate spare aircraft; required range and seat configuration; next-maintenance-due date from AMOS | Feasibility verdict: Swap approved / blocked (maintenance hold, wrong config, insufficient range) with reason code | Aircraft swap evaluation completed within 8 min; maintenance-hold conflicts identified before physical repositioning begins | Y | Y |
| 3.3 | Coordinate revised gate and slot with airport ops | Airport Liaison — NOC | SITA Airport Management System (AMS) + IATA SLOT coordination message (SSR/SIR) | Revised ETD; new aircraft tail; gate resource availability from AMS; slot window from airport coordinator | Confirmed gate assignment and revised slot time acknowledged by airport; updated in Altéa OC | Gate confirmation received ≥30 min before revised ETD; slot revision accepted at slot-controlled airports within IATA SSIM Chapter 8 tolerance window | N | Y |
| 3.4 | Approve and lock recovery plan | NOC Duty Manager | Amadeus Altéa Operations Control (OC) | Ranked recovery scenarios; crew legality confirmation from Jeppesen CMS; gate confirmation from AMS | Approved recovery plan locked in Altéa OC; task assignments dispatched to ground handling, crew, and ramp teams | Recovery plan approved and communicated ≥25 min before revised ETD; 0% plan revisions after lock (lock discipline metric) | Y | N |
Phase 4 4.1 |
Broadcast revised ETD to all operational stakeholders | NOC Network Controller | SITA ACARS + Telex; Amadeus Altéa OC automated notification | Approved recovery plan with locked revised ETD; stakeholder distribution list (crew, ramp, catering, fuelling, ATC) | ACARS ETD revision uplink to cockpit; AMS gate board update; SMS/email alerts to ground handlers | ETD update reaches all stakeholders within 2 min of plan lock; 100% of downstream flights updated in Altéa OC within 5 min | N | N |
| 4.2 | Monitor recovery execution against revised milestones | NOC Network Controller | SITA Airport Management System (AMS) | Recovery plan milestones (boarding-complete, doors-close, pushback); real-time gate event feeds | Milestone adherence scorecard updated in real time; red flag alert if any milestone slips by >5 min | Pushback within 3 min of revised ETD for ≥80% of recovery flights; milestone slip detection latency <90 sec | Y | N |
| 4.3 | Close recovery loop and update schedule actuals | NOC Network Controller | Amadeus Altéa Operations Control (OC) | ACARS airborne message (ATD); gate actual out/off events; confirmed delay duration | Delay event record closed in Altéa OC with actual block times; downstream schedule actuals updated; SSIM actual file entry created | 100% of closed delay events have IATA delay code confirmed within 30 min of ATD; actual block time accuracy ±1 min vs ACARS | N | N |
Phase 5 5.1 |
Aggregate delay evidence and system event logs | Operations Performance Analyst | AWS S3 / Amazon Redshift (Operations Data Lake) | Altéa OC event records; AMS gate logs; ACARS messages; Jeppesen crew duty records; weather METAR/SIGMET archive | Consolidated delay evidence package in Redshift: one row per delay event with all contributing data sources joined | Evidence package assembled within 24 hours of flight ops; data completeness ≥97% (all events have linked ACARS record) | N | Y |
| 5.2 | Attribute delay causes per IATA AHM 780 methodology | Operations Performance Analyst | Tableau (connected to Redshift delay evidence layer) | Consolidated evidence package; IATA AHM 780 attribution rules; airline-defined delay ownership matrix | Final delay attribution record: primary cause code, contributing cause codes, responsible department/vendor, accountable cost estimate | Attribution accuracy ≥94% (audited quarterly by Quality); attribution completed within 48 hours of event for all Severe-tier delays | N | N |
| 5.3 | Detect systemic delay patterns across rolling 30-day window | Operations Performance Analyst | Tableau / Power BI (Delay Analytics Dashboard) | 30-day delay attribution dataset from Redshift; threshold rules (≥3 events same root cause = systemic flag) | Systemic pattern alert: cause code, frequency, affected routes/aircraft type, responsible team, trend direction | Systemic patterns identified within 5 business days of 3rd occurrence; false-positive pattern rate <10% | Y | N |
Phase 6 6.1 |
Publish delay performance report to operations leadership | Operations Performance Analyst | Power BI (Ops Performance Portal) | Final attribution records; systemic pattern alerts; benchmarks (OAG industry OTP data; IATA Annual Review) | Weekly delay report: OTP vs target, top-5 delay codes, cost-of-delay by category, systemic patterns open/closed, trend vs prior 4 weeks | Report published by 08:00 Monday; OTP data currency within 12 hours of end of reporting week | N | N |
| 6.2 | Submit delay cost attribution to Finance for accrual | Operations Director | SAP S/4HANA Finance (FI-CO) — Cost Centre Accounting | Final delay attribution records with responsible department; estimated cost-of-delay by category (crew, ground handling, passenger compensation, fuel burn) | Cost centre journal entries in SAP FI; EC 261 compensation accrual posted; month-end delay cost reconciliation file | 100% of Severe-tier delay costs accrued in SAP FI within 5 business days of event; variance between estimated and actual delay cost <15% | N | N |
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