- An airplane generates income only when it is flying, and
- An increase in airplane utilization will tend to reap more profit for the operator.
If airplane utilization can be increased without incurring a deterioration in schedule reliability or a prohibitively high increase in maintenance costs, such an increase in utilization is in the direction of optimization.
This paper discusses the factors affecting utilization, particularly of cargo airplanes, and analyzes the effects of variations in elapsed-time allowed for maintenance and for loading (and refueling). The first section discusses the potential benefits to be derived by decreases in each of these variables, while the second section presents a status report on research and development work now in process, the goal of which is to increase airplane utilization through decreasing the ground time for loading and unloading.
