Summer Internship :

Development of a new flight planner assistance tool to

improve the flight scheduling process in Thumby Aviation
Pvt. Ltd

Submitted By
Name : Rahul S
Prn No : 19020841078
 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT
 Thumby Aviation (Helitaxii) is a private company that mainly occupies the non-
scheduled air transport operations platform in the Indian aviation industry.

 It has a zero-incident track record history to boast for and has a fleet of experienced
pilots and engineers from the Indian army at its core as the employees.

 They have a rich experience of over forty plus years in aviation and twenty-plus years in
aviation consulting.

 Thumby aviation offers a wide variety of services from airport shuttle services to
emergency services, joy rides, and private charters.

 They offer services to fly in and out of difficult and restricted terrains and has a rich
experience of working with different government bodies.
 PROBLEM SCENARIO
 Thumby Aviation employed a traditional approach in scheduling their flight plan
operations. The firm was using an outdated practice of planning their operations using simple
paper documentation method and in some cases a simple but time consuming and
cumbersome non-automated computer documentation process.

The planning process was not organized and because of fragmented data sets used there
was a lack of proper coordination between different stages.

They were not able to efficiently store or plan their multiple flight schedules due to the lack
of an automated tool that could optimize the entire process and improve the firm’s
productivity.

As an operations intern, my role was to develop a tool for assisting the flight planning
process in the organization.
 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Increasing productivity by enhancing the efficiency of

Development of a new flight planner tool from the flight planner tool through automation using excel
scratch to improve the flight scheduling process functions and macros.

The tool developed should be flexible

Developing a flight planning tool that is
easy to handle and can result in both PROJEC for future editing of the database used,
T if needed.
cost and time optimization.

Testing and debugging with internal quality checking

It also has to factor in the ease of usage for anyone in
of the project to ensure flexibility and error-free
the organization with a basic knowledge of excel and so
delivery of the tool which can promote its repeated use
needs to be simple and user friendly .
in the organization going forward.

11/19/2020 4
 PROJECT FRAMEWORK

1. Basic Data
1. Design template Sheet
development Planning 2. Calculator
2. Tool platform selection
Initial Phase
Sheet
3. Planner Sheet

1. Paxload
1. Data collection PROJECT BODY OF Sheet
Execution Second
2. Data cleaning METHODOLOGY WORK DONE 2. Flight Plan
3. Tool Development Phase Sheet

1. Operations
1. Data validation Testing and Flight Plan
2. Tool quality checks Debugging Final Phase Sheet
2. Load and Trim
. Sheet

5
Flow chart describing the basic process flow or sequence involved in flight plan scheduling (while filling in the data):
 LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES FACED
 Being a very niche type of operation the firm was involved in, there was a need for good clarity on
the work that was to be done and also on how to proceed with the tasks and communication to ensure
error-free completion amidst the covid-19 pandemic situation which posed a major problem.

Development of a new tool from scratch itself was a challenge. This demanded extra hours of research
on the flight scheduling process and brainstorming for several hours to come up with the final plan.

Many data points were missing in the input given that a lot of time had to be spent on filling up these
missing data points to create the database.

Creation of a new error-free database was a challenge as it required a lot of time to clean and
transform the data to the required formats as most of the data was in an unusable form.

Addition of manual entry points in the sheet along with the auto fill-in option was a challenge as it
was to be used in multiple areas because of it increasing the overall flexibility of the tool.

The project demanded a lot of automation and at the same time, it also had to remain simple to ensure
effective and easy tool handling by anyone with a basic knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
 STEPS TAKEN TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES
 Daily updates on the work done through online webinar meetings ensured the project was on right track and
to clear up doubts and confusion and to maintain clarity in the development process.

Based on the little information on hand and through online research, the formula for finding out the distance
and bearing angle given a latitude and longitude was derived and was confirmed after multiple checks and
rechecks to ensure the development of an error-free tool.

Several excel functions like v-lookup, if-else clause functions, and conditional formatting all were applied in
different areas to ease up the tool development process. Several excel macros were also used to make the
automation function of the tool accessible and easier to handle.

Applications like Google Earth Pro were used to find out elevation data and other missing information for the
data points in the database which were missing to ensure accuracy and error free data generation.

Different Microsoft Excel formatting techniques were used to ensure that the correct display of data formats
was maintained in the tool under development.

Several doubt-clearing sessions and data validation through thorough rechecking of the tool with the helitaxii
team in between the design cycle were carried out to avoid errors and meet the expected quality standards.
 PRE-POST SCENARIO ANALYSIS
S.NO PRE-TOOL EXCECUTION
1 Less organized and high complexity involved in the
planning and scheduling process. Not very user
friendly
2 No well-defined database exists.
3 No estimator or calculator exists for rough
calculations which can make planning and scheduling
process more efficient and productive.
4 No cost, resource and time optimization in
the planning and scheduling process.
5 Lack of analysis, tracking, and periodic
review/monitoring options due to the lack of a proper
system in place.
6 Hard for new employees to adapt as more time would
be needed, both in training and execution of the
planning and scheduling
documentation process.
POST-TOOL EXECUTION
Planning and scheduling process became more
simple and organized. Very user friendly as it is
easy and simple to use.
A well-defined database for reference is always
available.
A rough calculator exists for estimations or rough
calculations that can help in better planning and
scheduling.
Cost, resource and time optimization in the
planning and scheduling process.
Easier analysis, tracking and monitoring of
weekly/monthly data for review of targets set.
Simple progress report generation.
Easier for new employees to adapt as less time
would be needed, both in training and execution
of the planning and scheduling documentation
process.
 FINDINGS, KEY LEARNINGS & CONCLUSIONS

Extra hours put on for Validation of the

Proper planning of the It also helps to avoid Proper cleaning and
research in the initial transformation of all the completed work in
work done prior to phase can help a lot reworks, unwanted time
data collected have to between the design
execution is a must in more in the succeeding consumption and cycle has to be carried
any operational process be done prior to
phases later during the utilization of resources out to avoid errors and
to ensure all the goals working with it to
process. Proper which will lead to cost to meet the expected
are met and to ensure ensure error free design
brainstorming also has and time optimization quality standards and to
the project is moving on and to avoid later
to be done in the initial in any big or small reworks so as to match ensure the project is
the right track. stages to ensure that all moving on the right
projects with the expected
ideas and options are track.
quality standards.
analyzed before coming
up with the final plan.
 SUGGESTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS & FUTURE
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
 A properly cleaned database and the methodology followed should be stored or recorded for future
uses and modifications.

Better understanding and knowledge of some higher complex coding software could make the tool
even more automated and better by adding new additional features along the way if the organization
plans to diversify its activities and scope of operations.

The same tool with some modifications can be used for multiple scheduling processes in some other
departments also to make the process more efficient and productive.

A well developed “how to use” template of the tool can add to its simplicity.

A better version of the tool could be built with lesser restrictions on the time, complexity demanded,
and other external factors like (Covid-19) that affected this project.
Thank You