Airline disruption management that brings the OCC three rehearsed, costed recovery plans before the ground stop
Recovery plans in minutes, each one rehearsed and costed, signed before anything moves.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Airline disruption management is how an airline's operations control center recovers the schedule when weather, a ground stop or a failed system breaks it: which flights to delay, cancel, swap or consolidate, and how to look after crews and passengers. Airline Disruption Management gives the OCC eight agents that build recovery plans, rehearse each one against crew limits, MEL items, curfews, connections and the DOT rules, and price it line by line, while the Duty Manager edits, asks why and signs.
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When a thunderstorm line, a ground stop or a failed system hits a hub, airline disruption management comes down to minutes: the airline operations control center must decide which flights to delay, cancel, swap or consolidate. The Duty Manager pulls that answer together over a disruption bridge with dispatch, crew control, maintenance control, customer recovery and the hub station, each looking at a different system. Every check that fails sends the plan back for another round: the solver does not know the crew or the passengers, and crew control does not see the cost.
In irregular operations recovery, the expensive mistakes are the ones found late. A plan is chosen and then a crew times out under Part 117. A swap lands on a tail whose MEL item limits it to ETOPS 120 on a route that needs ETOPS 180. Connections are noticed when passengers reach the counter, a tarmac clock is noticed near three hours, a refund under the DOT automatic refund rule is missed — and by the next morning nobody can say why the decision was made.
Estimated staff days across the OCC and customer teams for one hub storm evening and its follow-up, by hand and with the solution.
Eight agents watch, plan, rehearse and price every recovery and check each other; the Duty Manager edits, asks why and signs.
Thursday, October 15, 16:22 MDT at the Denver hub of Corvane Airways. A line of thunderstorms is coming, and 188 flights, 28,289 passengers and 2,540 connections are at risk in the 16:00, 17:30 and 19:00 banks. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.
Dana's Today screen opens on a message from the Recovery agent: “Ground stop likely at 16:40. I have three plans.” Since 15:41 the agents have read 9 feeds, built 11 recovery plans and rehearsed every one. Plan B cancels 14 short flights, swaps a healthy 787 onto London and keeps 2,262 of 2,540 connections for $1.81M. Under “Needs you”: nothing has gone to stations, crews or customers yet, two aircraft are in the departure queue, and one swap waits for maintenance control.
“One decision needs you before 16:40.”
The Watch agent read convective SIGMET 47C — a line 40 nm wide moving east at 25 kt, tops FL450 — the DEN TAF amendment, lightning within 5 nm and FAA advisory 112, which calls a ground stop probable from 16:40 with a ground delay program likely after. Confidence rose from 0.74 to 0.82. A what-if tries the ground stop at 16:30 or 17:00 to show how sensitive the plans are; it never changes them.
The Watch agent warns and cites; it never declares an event.
The Recovery screen draws the DEN day as arrival and departure bank waves from 12:00 to 23:00, with the thunderstorm line from 16:30 to 19:00, the likely ground stop from 16:40 to 18:30 and the ramp closed for lightning from 16:35 to 17:45. Plan A holds and delays for $2.61M with 9 crew time-outs; Plan B thins the 17:30 bank for $1.81M; Plan C cancels early for $2.05M. Each plan is drawn over the real schedule, with its cost receipt below.
“I built 11 plans and rehearsed each against crew duty limits, MEL items, curfews, connections and the DOT tarmac rule; three passed. I recommend Plan B.”
The crew legality, aircraft and MEL, connections and obligations agents rehearse every plan without seeing the planner's reasoning. Plan D kept N806CV on CV 118 to London, but MEL 49-11-01 (APU inoperative) limits it to ETOPS 120 minutes and the route needs ETOPS 180. Plan G would land CV 1187 at Santa Ana at 23:24, after the 23:00 curfew. Plan H would take CV 1206 to its 3-hour tarmac limit at 19:05. None of the eight is ever offered as an option.
“8 plans failed rehearsal — never shown as options; here so you can see what was tried.”
Plan B as proposed cancels CV 418 to Chicago. Dana knows Chicago matters more tonight and types the change. The Recovery agent re-solves Plan B in 8.2 seconds and the four checks run again: still 14 cancellations, connections kept 2,262 → 2,310 (+48), cost $1.81M → $1.84M (+$30,000). CV 418 carries 96 connecting passengers to Chicago, CV 412 carries 48. She accepts the edit with reason E1 · Customer priority.
Nothing changes until she presses “Accept the edit”; “Undo” puts Plan B back as proposed.
Captain Henrik Dahl and First Officer Maya Collins reported at 07:05 and CV 412 is their fourth segment, so Part 117 Table B allows 13 hours and their duty ends at 20:05. The earliest slot is 19:10, block-in 21:15 — a 1 h 10 min extension. The captain took a 52-minute extension on Tuesday with no 30-hour rest since, so a second one over 30 minutes is not allowed, and no reserve A321neo captain is at DEN before 21:40.
“Canceling and rebooking its 142 passengers costs $41,000 less than a reserve-crew delay after 22:00.”
N806CV's APU has been inoperative since Oct 14 at 21:12, a category C item under MEL 49-11-01, which limits it to ETOPS 120 minutes. N812CV came in from SFO at 16:05 with no open items and takes CV 118 to London at 20:05; N806CV flies the domestic CV 1772 to Houston, where ground power and air are confirmed. Grace Lindqvist, maintenance control, confirmed both swaps at 16:20.
The Aircraft and MEL agent never clears an MEL item and never confirms a swap; maintenance control does.
CV 1206 closed its door at 16:05 and CV 1318 at 16:12, so their 3-hour domestic tarmac limits fall at 19:05 and 19:12. Plan B returns both to the gate by 17:12. The obligations agent warns at 2 h 15 min, starts returns by 2 h 30 min, and keeps the refund queue under the DOT automatic refund rule. In Plan A, four flights would have come within 30 minutes of the limit.
The obligations agent never waives an obligation and never sends a refund.
The signing screen restates the plan — 14 cancellations, 22 delays, 4 swaps, 2,310 of 2,540 connections kept, $1.84M, all five checks passed — and what will be sent. The plan is under the co-sign limits of 25 cancellations and $3M, so her signature is enough. She picks S2 · Protects connections and customers and signs as Dana Whitfield, Duty Manager, at 16:31 MDT.
“When you sign, the release agent sends the plan to 8 stations, dispatch, ATC, 31 crew members and 5,072 passengers, and tracks every acknowledgment.”
Cancellation and gate notices go to 8 stations, 22 amended releases to dispatch for Marcus Bell to sign, 9 slot substitutions from the canceled DEN arrivals, new reports and hotels for 31 crew members, messages to 1,964 passengers on canceled flights and 3,108 on delayed ones, and 410 rooms at six contracted DEN hotels. Each has a time limit and an owner; OMA station is flagged as overdue at 7 of 8.
The release agent never sends before signature; the dispatcher signs every amended release.
The same storm evening, seen by five of the people who carry it — what it looked like by hand, and what it looks like now.
Eight agents watch, plan, rehearse and price every recovery and check each other; the Duty Manager edits, asks why and signs.
Reads aviation weather, FAA flow programs and advisories, lightning and systems status every minute, and warns of ground stops, ground delay programs and ramp closures with a confidence and its sources.
Builds up to 12 candidate plans for schedule and crew recovery — delays, cancellations, swaps, consolidations, ferries — sends each to the four checking agents, shows the best three that pass by the airline's weights, and re-solves around a person's edits.
Checks every crew member a plan touches against Part 117 Table B, the 117.19 extension rules, rest and the crew agreement, flags any duty within 30 minutes of its limit and finds qualified reserves.
Checks each tail in a plan: open MEL items and their operational restrictions, ETOPS capability for the route, checks due, curfews and what each station can support.
Scores every connection under each plan and re-accommodates passengers by priority — children traveling alone, passengers needing assistance, last flights of the day, then everyone else — and drafts the customer messages.
Watches every tarmac, refund and curfew clock a disruption starts, and prices each plan's cost receipt line by line from hotel, crew and partner contracts, fares and the rules.
After signature, sends the plan to stations, dispatch, ATC, crews, customers and hotels, tracks every acknowledgment against its time limit and escalates silence.
Writes the after-action review from the signed plan, the outcome and the conversation — plan against outcome, the decisions on the record — and proposes lessons.
Signs every plan; maintenance control confirms swaps; the dispatcher signs amended releases. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words, or say what to change. Every answer cites the roster, MEL record, contract or rule it came from, and opens the screen it is about.
Could CV 412 wait out the storm with a delay?
Not with its crew. Captain Henrik Dahl reported at 07:05 and CV 412 is his fourth segment; Table B ends his duty at 20:05. Any slot after the bank — 19:10 is the earliest — needs a second extension over 30 minutes this week, which 117.19(a)(2) forbids, and no reserve captain is at DEN before 21:40. So CV 412 either flies at 17:50 or is canceled.
What does Plan B cost, line by line?
Plan B as proposed: $1.81M — refunds and lost revenue $0.90M, hotels and meals $0.30M, crew $0.18M, partner rebooking $0.21M, goodwill $0.14M and aircraft $0.08M. Plan A is $2.61M.
Which flights are close to the 3-hour tarmac limit?
None yet. CV 1206 closed its door at 16:05 and CV 1318 at 16:12, so their limits are 19:05 and 19:12; the plan returns both to the gate by 17:12. Each passenger kept too long can cost up to $75,000.
Who has not acknowledged yet?
OMA station has not acknowledged after 10 minutes. The release agent paged Gary Lindell again and escalates to the Duty Manager at 15 minutes.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Recovery rules v7 at Corvane, approved by the VP Operations Control, set how airline recovery optimization weighs cost, connections kept and tomorrow’s schedule. A change needs a reason code and is rehearsed on the last six disruption days before it applies.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Plan weights | Cost 40 · connections kept 40 · tomorrow's schedule 20 | Your own weights, changed by the VP Operations Control |
| Plans built / shown | Up to 12 built · 3 shown | How many candidates to build and how many rehearsed plans to show |
| Ground-stop warning | Confidence 0.60 or more | The confidence at which the Watch agent warns |
| Tarmac warning | 2 h 15 min domestic · 3 h 15 min international | When the clock alerts the Duty Manager, station and captain |
| Return to gate starts by | 2 h 30 min domestic · 3 h 30 min international | Set inside the 3- and 4-hour limits of 14 CFR 259.4 |
| Significant change (refund) | Delay over 3 h domestic, 6 h international | Follows the DOT automatic refund rule |
| Minimum connection at DEN | 40 min domestic · 75 min international | Per hub |
| Crew duty warning | Within 30 minutes of the limit | Your company buffer on top of Part 117 |
| Co-signature by the VP | Over 25 cancellations or $3M | Your thresholds |
| Curfews | SNA 23:00 · SAN 23:30 · FRA 23:00–05:00 · LHR night quota | Every station's curfew or quota |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (AltexSoft, June 2026, citing an airline IT provider — an airline of about 100 aircraft can lose up to $80 million a year to disruption; 49 U.S.C. 46301 as amended by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 — up to $75,000 per violation; 14 CFR 259.4 tarmac delays, 14 CFR Part 260 refunds, 14 CFR Part 117 crew duty). Corvane Airways and the people, flights and aircraft named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Airline disruption management is how an airline's operations control center recovers the schedule when weather, a ground stop or a failed system breaks it: which flights to delay, cancel, swap or consolidate, and how to look after crews and passengers. Airline Disruption Management gives the OCC eight agents that build recovery plans, rehearse each one against crew limits, MEL items, curfews, connections and the DOT rules, and price it line by line, while the Duty Manager edits, asks why and signs.
The Watch agent reads weather, lightning and FAA advisories and warns with a confidence. On the sample evening it saw a ground stop and ground delay program coming at DEN: the stop likely from 16:40 at 0.82, the program likely after it. The Recovery agent builds up to 12 plans for the affected banks, the checking agents rehearse them, and the Duty Manager sees the three best that passed, each with its cost receipt.
The crew legality agent checks every crew member a plan touches against Table B duty limits, the 117.19 extension rules, rest and the crew agreement, and flags any duty within 30 minutes of its limit. A plan that times out a crew fails rehearsal and is never offered. The agent never assigns a crew; the Crew Controller does.
Yes. The aircraft and MEL agent reads each tail's open MEL items and their restrictions, ETOPS capability, checks due, curfews and station support. On the sample evening it caught that MEL 49-11-01 limits N806CV to ETOPS 120 on a London route that needs ETOPS 180. Maintenance control confirms every swap.
The obligations agent runs every tarmac clock from door close or touchdown, warns at 2 h 15 min and starts returns to the gate by 2 h 30 min, inside the 3-hour domestic limit of 14 CFR 259.4. It keeps the queue of DOT automatic refunds under 14 CFR Part 260 — a delay over 3 hours domestic or 6 hours international is a significant change — and prices refunds into each plan's receipt. It never waives an obligation or sends a refund itself.
Yes, in plain words. “Keep CV 418, cancel CV 412 instead” was re-solved in 8.2 seconds and rehearsed again, showing +48 connections and +$30,000 before the edit was accepted. “Why not delay CV 412?” was answered with the crew's duty clock, the extension rule and the reserve list, each cited.
Yes. It is OCC decision support: nothing reaches stations, crews, dispatch, ATC or passengers until the Duty Manager signs with a reason code; the VP Operations Control co-signs above 25 cancellations or $3M, maintenance control confirms swaps and the dispatcher signs amended releases. Every step and decision is on a trail nobody can edit.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your recovery rules, crew agreements, contracts and customer service plan — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. Before go-live it is replayed on your past disruption days; on the sample setup, its plans matched or beat the decisions made on 5 of 6.
Every release checked before signature, with a source behind every number.
1-min demoNOTAM Briefing238 notices become the 6 that change the flight, each with its reason and original text.
1-min demoDiscretionary Fuel OptimizationEach flight loads the extra fuel its history needs: an estimated $2.1M a year at one hub.
1-min demoWe'll run Airline Disruption Management on one of your own past disruption days.