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Introduction
The Flight Crew Management System is targeted at the small to medium sized airline with typically 10 to 100 pilots operating out of a single airport and handles the day to day maintenance of operational records and monitoring of flying duties to ensure all of the relevant rules and regulations specified by various organisations are observed.
The primary purpose of the software is to collect each day details of the flying and other duties worked by each pilot and so ensure that the various legal and other regulations are adhered to in relation to his flying certification.
In addition to operational shifts, the system handles days in lieu, sick leave, reserve shifts and any other special categories of rostered shifts can be specifically customised.
A comprehensive range of reports are available for most obvious management purposes and special requirements can be catered for at moderate cost..
Reminders are produced automatically when any tests or check-ups are due including those incurred when insufficient instrument or night flying has been done.
An optional facility is available to permit Operational Management
staff to construct forward rosters for pilots and to check that
the rosters do not violate statutory limitations etc.
in the same way as normal flight and duty data entries are
checked.
The system is highly customisable for each airline, for example, you can define standard duty shifts so that you do not need to type in the actual start and finish for the vast majority of shifts worked.
The heart of the system is a database containing personal information and details of professional certification and competence for each pilot. In addition, details of all working shifts are kept for a minimum of one year, each shift data including duty hours, flying hours, instrument flying and landings etc.
The system includes a built-in backup system of the whole database and a reminder appears if the specified backup interval is exceeded.
The system is largely self explanatory with on-screen assistance at all times. Also context specific help is available using the [F1] function key.
The software as delivered includes a small example database of three pilots, namely Kingsford Smith, Red Baron and Douglas Bader with some realistic data. This database can be used in Administration Mode for training and familiarisation without risking any damage to your real data. To access it, simply get into Administration mode and click on the “Training” menu item.
If the database file TRIALDB.MDB is not present, this feature will be unavailable.
The licensed system is protected by two passwords, one for Administration and a different one for System Maintenance Initially they are both "FREEDOM" and, of course, they can be changed by you for security. The unlicensed version is quite open and unprotected.
The unlicensed version as downloaded from the Internet is a fully functional version with the following limitations: A maximum of four active pilots can be handled by the database. The Administration and Maintenance password protection is disabled.
This section describes how the system is integrated within the normal daily operations of a small airline.
There are five basic modes of operation, Routine Daily Data Entry, Administration, Roster Planning, Maintenance and Getting Reports.
At the end of each working shift, each pilot enters into the computer his personal Password to give him access to his own Flight and duty details.
He specifies the date if necessary, selects the particular standard shift he has worked that day, enters details of flying time, instrument flying time, instrument landings and number of sectors flown together with any other desired information as comments. Once he has checked all is correct, he clicks on the “Continue” button.
As soon as the “Continue” button is clicked, the computer calculates if there are any reminders necessary for that pilot such as the approach of a medical check or a situation where he is close to the minimum required frequency for such things as instrument approaches or night flights. If there are any such reminders, they will be displayed and the pilot will be given the opportunity to print them out as a hard copy.
The system is then ready for the next pilot.
Of course, non routine situations are handled also.
The pilot can enter several days of duty one after another, he can indicate the need for a Day off in lieu if such regulations apply etc. etc.
He can specify a day of split duty where two separate shifts
have been worked in the day, separated by a rest period of a specified minimum time.
He can also view the last 60 days entries to check he has not missed a day through an oversight.
If any modification is needed of data already entered, this must be done by one of the System Administrators as described below. This latter restriction is maintained to ensure appropriate data security.
In general there will be one or two senior or clerical staff who will have access to the system for all pilots. They will be able to enter data for all pilots, modify data, print out reports etc.
To access the Administration mode, you simply click on the button labelled “Administration”. You will need to enter the Admin. password correctly when information as to the last Administration mode use will be given as well as details of any failed or unauthorised attempts to “break” the password protection of the system.
You now have access to all menu functions except the “Maintenance” menu as follows:
Pilots menu
Add a new pilot; Modify pilot data ; Pilot Leaving or Re-Calculate Seniority.
Daily Data Entry menu
Entry or modification of routine daily Flight and Duty data.
Reports menu
Gives access to the following reports:
Pilot Checks due; Leave and Sick leave; Monthly Flight check; Allowances; Moving totals;Days in Lieu Pilot Personal data; Pilots seniority list.
Backups menu
Data-base backup and Data-base restore to and from floppy disk.
The system includes an optional Roster Planning sub-system which allows an Administration level
user to enter planned duty rosters for any or all of the pilots.
The primary roster planning tool is a spreadsheet type view with a line for each pilot covering a
period of sixty days.
Shifts from the list of standard shifts are applied to the appropriate day / pilot combination thus building up a complete matrix.
Planned shifts can of course be edited when they differ from a standard shift in some way.
Once complete, the Roster Plan can be assessed against the statutory and customised list of rules and regulations
that apply to the airline.
There should be one or two senior staff who will have access to the maintenance aspects of the system. Access to the maintenance mode should be strictly controlled since the maintenance menu gives access to facilities which can seriously damage or lose data.
Once in Administration mode, you can click on the maintenance menu option when you will be asked to enter the “Maintenance” password which must be different from the normal Admin password. Once the correct password is entered, a new button appears on the right of the screen labelled “Exit Maintenance” and you will have access to the following items within the Maintenance menu:
Remove old Flight Data; Delete Pilot Records; Settings; Modify Shift Types; Check Flight Hours etc.; Change System Password; Change Maintenance Password; Compact the Database.
There are eight standard reports available through the Reports menu
Pilot Checks due report
This report is the result of a check of the data for a particular pilot against the various statutary regulations as specified in the “Settings” option in the Maintenance menu.
It specifies all of the various checks, such as a Medical Check, that are due in the near future, depending on how many days warning has been input in the “Settings” screen. It similarly warns when a pilot is close to reaching a limit such as the maximum period without making a particular instrument landing. Other limits such as a minimum required number of night flights in a given period are also checked.
The report can be generated for all pilots or just for a selection. It is automatically generated whenever a pilot finishes his daily data input and there are warnings due for him.
Leave and Sick leave report
This report details, for each pilot, all periods of annual leave or sick leave he has had for the period covered by the report. The report period defaults to the most recent complete calendar month but can be specified as any period.
Monthly Flight Check Report
This report details, for selected or all pilots, all flight and duty data entered for the period covered by the report. The report period defaults to the most recent complete calendar month but can be specified as any period. It is intended that this report be given to each pilot on a monthly basis to check against his personal log book to insure against errors in data entry. It has provision for the pilot to sign off that the data has been checked and is O.K.
Allowances Report
This report details, for all pilots, Transport and Night Operations Allowances for the period
Moving Totals Report
This report details, for all pilots, Moving Totals of flight times for the periods 7 days, 30 days and 365 days prior to a specific date (normally the date of the report). In addition, it totals the duty hours for the last 14 days.
Days in Lieu Report
This report details, for all or selected pilots, all days in lieu taken as leave or earned as a result of working operational shifts which are specified by the relevant agreement as earning them. Current totals are also supplied.
Pilot Data Report
This report details, for all or selected pilots, information as to personal, qualifications and experience which is held on the database.
Seniority List Report
This report lists all pilots in order of seniority according to their recorded date started at this airline.
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