Skyschedule, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF203-CSO1

Description

The proposal is aimed at developing and deploying an optimizer to automate the scheduling and disruption management of the US Airforce undergraduate pilot trainee schedules. The main capabilities of the optimizer will be to rapidly resolve schedule disruptions, and the ability to predict and simulate future disruptions, stress-test the schedule with simulations, and make adjustments to improve schedule robustness. This proposal is motivated by the fact that schedule planning and recovery for  the US Airforce undergraduate pilot training program is done manually by fellow USAF pilots, resulting in scheduling errors, wastage of expensive resources and the inability to handle disruptions efficiently. Further, the schedulers (USAF pilots) have no way to simulate and stress-test trainee pilot schedule disruptions caused by weather and maintenance in advance, forcing them to handle disruptions manually at the last minute. Based on the various workshops conducted by SkySchedule with Eric Frahm (Chief Product Officer, USAF Air Education and Training Command), PuckBoard/MIT AI lab, Ronisha Carter (, Capt., USAF/MIT AI Accelerator) and Michal Snyder (USAF/MIT AI Accelerator), we understand the requirements of USAF undergraduate pilot training program. We also understand that PuckBoard has developed a rule engine capable of handling all the business logic for the end customer, and could potentially integrate with SkySchedule optimizer to offer an end-to-end solution to predict likely disruptions, stress-test and tweak schedules, and resolve disruptions in a much more automated and efficient way.  SkySchedule’s SaaS platform is being used by a large US commercial airline to manage 45000 flights/month and 7000 pilots’ and flight attendants’ schedules. We are onboarding additional airlines, and estimated to manage 90000 flights/month and 12000 crew members by the end of April 2021. Based on the workshops we have already conducted with the PuckBoard team, we feel we are very well aligned with the needs of USAF Undergraduate pilot training program’s scheduling needs. Other teams in USAF like Kessel Run’s JIGSAW program, Air Operations Centers (AOCs), AFLCMC / HBM - Mission Planning (Acquisitions), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), AMC / A9, ACC / A9, or USTRANSCOM, 618th Air Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center) and C-17 Globemaster III’s ultimate measure of airlift effectiveness is the ability to rapidly deploy and sustain an effective combat force close to a potential battle area. These teams currently lack advanced automation capabilities for managing their personnel and resource scheduling needs, which is where our product seeks to fill the gap.