In this essay question, please discuss the issue of airline network complexity from the
following perspectives by providing your own examples to highlight the complexity:
(1) How can air passenger connections, commercial interests, and markets possibly
influence the network complexity of an airline? (Hint: you may like to consider
different types of networks and pax connections and explore how this may affect
network complexity.)
(2) How can aircraft routing and aircraft utilisation affect network complexity?
(3) How can crew pairing, rostering, and crew utilisation affect network complexity?
(4) How can network complexity be influenced by the pursue of schedule robustness
and the practice of disruption management by airlines? (Hint: (a) consider how
this complexity is “created” during schedule planning, and how the complexity as
a whole influences airline operations; (b) explain how you can improve schedule
robustness and operational reliability by dealing with network complexity both
from scheduling and operational perspectives.)
