Using Sabre Movement Manager As Data Source
With this blog post, I would like to pick out Sabre’s Movement Manager. Accordingly, I explain the benefits of this system when used as a source for an airline operations dashboard. These benefits are a result of hands-on experience. Experiences we’ve made when setting up our real-time dashboard with airlines that are using Sabre Movement Manager.
Nevertheless, this blog post neither recommends using Sabre Movement Manager as an operations control system, nor that other systems don’t provide similar benefits.
Using An Operations Control System As Data Source — Here Are The Core Requirements
A valuable dashboard always aims to visualize essential key performance indicators (KPI) and information. Therefore, an operations control system has to meet the following three main requirements.
Easy to connect
The operations control system should provide technical capabilities to connect the dashboard systems easily. But, again, this is about standardized formats and state-of-the-art interfaces.
Data richness
The operations control system should be capable of providing a vast amount of data. This is required to create various KPIs and display relevant information on the dashboard.
Real-time
The operations control system has to provide the possibility of a steady, real-time data flow. This is required to show the latest and most up-to-date information and KPIs.
Our Experience With Sabre Movement Manager
Easy to connect
During recent years, Sabre developed a structured data format (XML4OPS). XML4OPS provides a clear definition of data types, and syntax Movement Manager delivers. It contains all essential entities, but especially flight legs.
After the initial setup of an interface that can process XML4OPS within our cloud environment, connecting Movement Management is —thanks to XML4OPS— a question of a few days. Subsequently, there’s no longer a necessity to discuss data structures, attributes, or formats.
Accordingly, from our experience, when connecting airlines that use Sabre Movement Manager, it is only about coordinating the purely technical aspects (IP addresses, firewalls, etc.). Accordingly, the entire process is exceptionally lean.
From an airline’s point of view, the effort is also minimal since only small configuration changes have to be performed. Below you can see a typical technical setup.
Data richness
Movement Manager —from my point of view— is definitely a “rich” system, functional-wise and data-wise. Accordingly, it offers data that enables an airline to provide many KPIs and information on an operations dashboard. For example, based on the data we receive from clients that use Sabre Movement Manager, we can calculate the following KPIs (extract):
- Arrival Delay
- Arrival Punctuality
- Arrivals
- Cancellation Rate
- Cancellations
- Delayed Departures
- Delay Minutes
- Departure Delay
- Departure Punctuality
- Departures
- Diversions
- Planned Departures
- Punctuality
- Regularity
- Reroutings
- Utilization
- Seat Load Factor
- Number of Passengers
- Passengers en Route
- Customer Satisfaction
- Customer Punctuality
- Aircraft Changes
- Equipment Changes
Therefore, we consider Sabre Movement Manager as a source system that perfectly meets the requirement to set up an operations dashboard with relevant and essential KPIs and information. Additionally, relevant lists, including delay reasons, estimates, and actual times, can be provided quickly.
Real-time data provision
Linked to the XML4OPS mentioned above, one of the strengths Sabre Movement Manager offers is providing real-time updates. Whenever Sabre Movement Manager receives updates or changes are performed, corresponding updates are pushed out by the Movement Manager. In the context of the IT setup above, every update reflects a message, is pushed to a message queue, and processed by the operations dashboard.
Compared to other approaches we set up for clients using different systems, Movement Manager’s real-time update message streams provide the highest flexibility. Accordingly, it perfectly meets the requirements of a real-time dashboard.
Sabre Movement Manager —Summarized
From our experience, Sabre Movement Manager is an optimal operation control system from an operations real-time dashboard view. Connecting airlines that use Sabre Movement Manager to our product can usually be completed in a few days. That provides the possibility to concentrate on content and visual aspects instead of technical discussions everybody hates.
What Do You Think?
Always happy to receive your feedback and thoughts.
