Enhancing Aircraft Utilization: Improved Use of Cargo-Holding Time.

摘要

The Military Airlift Command (MAC) has incurred lower aircraft utilization rates since FY87. Aircraft efficiency has suffered as airlift demands of the Military Services declined, prompted by shrinking transportation budgets. To improve its aircraft efficiency, MAC has experimented with extending the length of time it holds cargo at aerial ports of embarkation beyond the 48-hour limit set by the Uniform Material Movement Issue Priority System (UMMIPS). A statistical model shows that such cargo-holding time extensions can be a powerful tool for improving the utilization of tis aircraft. Moreover, MAC found that timely deliveries need not to suffer with cargo holding time extensions: when Julian delivery dates are not constraining, MAC can use some of the extra time to extend its cargo-holding time; when Julian delivery dates are constraining, MAC can reduce its other possession times to compensate for the increased cargo-holding time; and when expeditious shipments are designated, MAC can focus on standard UMMIPS times. MAC should be given formal managerial authority to focus on meeting the particular delivery requirement of each shipment, not on the currently arbitrary and uniform timeframes. To obtain and use this new authority, we recommend certain revisions to UMMIPS, modifications to MAC's operating procedures, and changes to performance reporting. (emk)