Set Up Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order

How to set up groups of aircraft for scheduling and ordering your aircraft within a scheduling group. You can schedule reservations by type of aircraft, as well as by other distinguishing characteristics of your custom groups

Viewing Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order

To view Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order, go to Settings > Aircraft > Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order.

All of your aircraft are listed. If they have not been added to a scheduling group, they will be listed under a default “No Group” or “Inactive.”

You can filter the list using the following options:

• Select a Location from the All Locations drop down list to only see aircraft associated with a specific location.
• Select the group from the All Aircraft drop down list to only see aircraft in the selected groups or all aircraft.

You can create a group by type or a custom group. You can edit an existing group. You can rearrange the order of the aircraft in each group, which determines how automatic tail assignments are made when a reservation is scheduled to a group. You can also reorder the groups.

Creating a Group by Aircraft Type

To create a scheduling group based on the aircraft type:

1. Open the Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order screen.
2. Select Create Group.
3. On the Create Scheduling Group screen, select the Create Groups by Aircraft Type tab.
   
4. Check one or more boxes to include the selected aircraft type(s) in the new scheduling group.
5. Select Create Groups by Type.

Creating a Custom Group

To create a new group:

1. Open the Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order screen.
2. Select Create Group.
3. On the Create Scheduling Group screen, enter a name for the group in the Scheduling Group Title field.
   
4. If you have access to more than one location, select the Location from the drop down list.
5. Select the Add Aircraft field to view your list of aircraft. Check the box(es) next to the aircraft you want to include in this group. Select Apply.
6. Select whether to make the tail assignment for this group Automatically or Manually when reservations are made.
7. To consider a minimum reserve capacity when making reservations, enter a percentage. The system rounds up, based on the number of resources in the scheduling group and displays number of resources that will be held in reserve at any given time based on your percentage.
8. Select Create.

About Tail Assignments and Minimum Reserve Capacity

When you make a reservation against a scheduling group with manual tail assignments, you are making a placeholder reservation to avoid having to change the resource based on maintenance and other shifting needs in the schedule. The reservation will need to be assigned to a resource before it can be checked out for the flight.

When you make a reservation against a scheduling group with automatic tail assignments, the system will automatically assign the reservation to the first available appropriate resource, based on the scheduling group order and resource availability. If the aircraft in the number one spot for that group is unavailable for the time of the reservation, the system will select the second resource, or the third, etc.

Minimum reserve capacity is considered when scheduling reservations against the scheduling group with automatic tail assignments to ensure that the system does not overbook resources when fulfilling reservations. On the Schedule key, reserve capacity resources are identified as follows:

Editing or Deleting a Group

To make changes to an existing scheduling group:

1. Open the Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order screen.
2. Select Edit Group next to the scheduling group you want to modify.
   
3. Select the Add Aircraft field to view your list of aircraft. Check the box(es) next to the aircraft you want to include in this group. Uncheck the box(es) next to the aircraft you want to remove from this group. Select Apply.
   Note: If you remove an aircraft from a scheduling group with a manual tail assignment setting, you may see a retired resource slot on the schedule until you change the reservation in the retired slot.
4. To change the minimum reserve capacity, enter a percentage. The system rounds up, based on the number of resources in the scheduling group and displays number of resources that will be held in reserve at any given time based on your percentage.
5. To delete the group, select Delete Group and select OK in the confirmation window.
6. Select Save.

Ordering Aircraft within a Group

The order aircraft appear in a group determines the order resources are assigned when scheduling a reservation to a group that includes an automatic tail assignment.

To change the order of aircraft within a group:

1. Open the Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order screen.
2. Within the group you want to reorder, each aircraft is shown. Select the arrow to the right of the aircraft you want to reorder and drag it to the new order within the group. A blue highlight shows the aircraft you are reordering and where it is being placed.
   

Ordering Groups

You can change the order your scheduling groups appear.

The order of all aircraft and groups determines the order aircraft are displayed on the schedule. So the order within the group matters for scheduling, but the order of the aircraft from top to bottom (whether they are in a group or not) determines the order they show up on the schedule.

To change the group order:

1. Open the Scheduling Groups and Aircraft Order screen.
2. Select the arrow to the right of the group you want to reorder and drag it to the new order. A blue highlight shows the group you are reordering, along with all of the included aircraft, and where the group is being placed.