Summer is a busy time for aviation operations. Between June and September, millions of people head off for vacation. Many take advantage of the warm weather in the northern hemisphere to visit beautiful destinations. Others use the season to return home for longer stays. For airlines, airports, and ground handlers, it all adds up to one thing: pressure.
The latest data from Cirium gives a clear picture of how intense this season could be. Last summer, 4.9 million seats were filled between the United States and Europe. This year, that number is expected to rise to 5.1 million. That is a 3% increase. Meanwhile, seat capacity on routes between the United States and Asia is also rebounding, growing by 5%, or about 92,000 more seats.
This surge in demand brings a familiar but pressing challenge: planning. Is your organization still relying on spreadsheets or other manual methods? If so, this might be the time to rethink how you manage resources during the peak air travel season. In this blog, we explore why manual planning no longer meets today’s demands. We also look at how advanced software can help make operations faster, more efficient, and more resilient.
Final Preparations for the Summer Rush
It is already May, and across airports, activity is picking up fast. Longer queues, tighter turnarounds, and more pressure on every shift are clear signs. The peak air travel season is no longer just “coming soon.” It’s knocking at the door.
For many ground handling teams, the last few months have been a scramble. They have been hiring, adjusting rosters, and testing new schedules, all while trying to get everything in place before the real rush begins. But the work does not end once resource demands are calculated. In fact, the most challenging part is the operation itself, where the robustness of the plans is put to the test.
The aviation industry is still dealing with the sequels of the pandemic, which led to more than 2.3 million job losses. Qualified personnel are needed across all roles, from pilots to ramp agents to technicians. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, only about 70% of staffing targets at airport towers and terminal facilities in the United States are currently filled by fully certified controllers. Projections for the coming years do not look more positive.
But staffing is only one challenge. Changing flight schedules, stricter service agreements, and geopolitical disruptions are all making it harder to adapt operations. With passenger expectations higher than ever, even small issues can have outsized consequences.
This is where outdated planning methods start to crack. A missed shift. A delay that snowballs into a gate conflict that can create ripple effects across the operation. These aren’t just small hiccups. They’re symptoms of a system that’s being stretched too far.
Despite this, many organizations continue to rely on spreadsheets or paper boards to plan their ground resources. These tools may feel familiar, but they do not offer the flexibility or foresight that today’s aviation operations demand.
The Limitations of Manual Planning
If you have ever spent hours manually adjusting schedules or updating plans, you know how quickly the process can become frustrating. Planners often report that managing large volumes of data and aligning it with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and staff qualifications is exhausting.
Manual planning adds more work when what you really need is more clarity.
Here are three major limitations of such outdated methods:
- It does not scale. As operational demands grow, so does your data. Managing large volumes manually becomes overwhelming.
- It lacks flexibility. Manual systems are slow to update. They make it harder to adjust quickly when flight schedules change or when staff requirements shift.
- It increases the risk of human error. Manual data entry is prone to mistakes. And in aviation, even small errors can lead to compliance issues or service disruptions.
During the peak season, working longer hours is not the solution. What you need is greater efficiency — and better tools to achieve it.
Why Software Is a Better Choice
We just discussed the main limitations of manual planning. But how can technology help address these problems? Think about how we use smart tools in daily life. Whether it is a search engine, a weather app, or a route planner, digital tools help us make decisions faster and with more confidence. They do not replace human expertise. They enhance it, providing valuable information at our fingertips. The same applies to aviation operations.
Advanced software solutions support aviation operations by enabling informed decision-making. They also free up your planners to focus on critical tasks. Moving to advanced tools is a true game changer.
Here are four key benefits of switching to advanced software:
- Make the most of your resources: smart software helps you plan the right number of resources like staff and ground support equipment, considering flight schedules, qualifications, and other pre-defined rules. You stop guessing. You start optimizing.
- Compare and improve plans: planning shift coverage with or without breaks? What happens when introducing part-timers? Use what-if scenarios to compare different situations and choose the most efficient and cost-effective option.
- Spot training gaps: planning tools provide clear graphical visualizations of workload demand by qualification. This helps identify where additional training may be needed before coverage becomes an issue.
- Improve the effectiveness of your operations: when leveraging machine learning algorithms, these tools consider predicted delays, passenger volumes, and baggage loads. This allows you to adjust calculations and create more robust, realistic plans.
Now the Choice Is Yours
Transitioning from manual planning to advanced software can feel like a big step, but it is essential. During the busy season, the limitations of traditional methods become clear. Without the support of automation, plans are prone to errors that slow your team down when they need to move quickly. It adds pressure to your operation at the worst possible time.
Advanced software solutions help your team work smarter. They create more robust resource plans and support smoother operations. With the right tools, you can reduce delays, avoid both overstaffing and understaffing, and meet SLA targets with greater confidence.
It is time for aviation organizations to move forward. From reactive to proactive. From manual to smart. From coping to performing.
So, if your team is still planning manually, you have more than one reason to take the next step. Smarter tools. Smoother processes. Better results — this summer and beyond.
>> How is your team adapting its planning approach to meet the demands of this summer season? Share with us in the comments below.
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