TTM, or Time To Market, is a metric used in crew management defined as 'the average duration from start of the crew planning optimization process, to flown production'.
A short TTM is crucial for allowing the network organisation (commercial planning) to adjust the flight schedule and fleet plan as long as possible, in order to maximize captured revenue. TTM is short when an airline has a short crew planning process and frequently publish roster content to crew.
However, TTM not only affects the operator's ability to tune revenue capture, something increasingly important in a fast moving market, but also has its implications on crew fatigue risk. With a lengthy crew planning process, airlines often end up publishing rosters to their crew that later will need to be changed when for example charter flights are inserted, fleets are being swapped, or capacity doesn't match the demand. Late changes to the rosters are detrimental to crew fatigue risk as sleep often takes a hit when personal life and work content clashes. Good roster planning practices include:
- Plan late, and fast, using the most accurate data. This does not need to conflict with giving crew long heads-up on their time off.
- Build in buffers to legal limits and other operational constraints that risks making the plan break down in day of operation
- Provide crew with influence over their rosters (through bids, requests, swaps and special contracts)
- Use validated science (a bio-mathematical model such as BAM) to suppress and distribute risk while building your pairings and rosters
- Protect the most challenging part of the operation from late changes
Read more about controlling crew fatigue risk throughout the crew management process in this document.
