Unobscuring algorithm

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10664769-B2
Application number	US-201715726207-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2017
Priority date	Mar 8, 2013
Publication date	May 26, 2020
Grant date	May 26, 2020

Abstract

The system uses an unobscuring algorithm to determine dilution values and stimulation values. The system includes analysis methods and tools suitable for use in connection with yield management systems, inventory control systems, revenue management systems, and the like.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
organizing, by forecasting system modules, a database into data tables;
storing, by the forecasting system modules and in the database, a bookings table file containing seat bookings and forecasted demand for a flight as part of the data tables in the database, and
creating, by the forecasting system modules, a linked series of data fields to form a data structure that contains the bookings table file;
tuning, by the forecasting system modules, the database to optimize performance of the database, wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used bookings table files as indexes on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;
accessing, by the forecasting system modules and via an electronic network, the bookings table file containing the seat bookings and the forecasted demand for the flight,
wherein the seat bookings are grouped into a plurality of fare classes, and
wherein at least one fare class in the plurality of fare classes is closed and contains no bookings to create a closed class;

determining, by the forecasting system modules and using the seat bookings and the forecasted demand, a monetary stimulation value of opening the closed class;
determining, by the forecasting system modules and using the seat bookings and the forecasted demand, a monetary dilution penalty of opening the closed class; and
comparing, by the forecasting system modules, the monetary stimulation value to the monetary dilution penalty to generate booking instructions,
wherein the determining the monetary dilution penalty comprises:
determining, by the forecasting system modules, a proportion of the seat bookings that are price oriented; and
multiplying, by the forecasting system modules, the proportion of the seat bookings that are price oriented by a loss associated with a seat booking in the closed class, and

wherein the determining the proportion of the seat bookings that are price oriented comprises:
identifying, by the forecasting system modules, any of the seat bookings in the bookings table file that have been modified as a result of an unobscuring algorithm; and
identifying, by the forecasting system modules, any of the seat bookings in the bookings table file that are associated with a price oriented customer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the monetary stimulation value exceeding the monetary dilution penalty, the booking instructions comprise instructions to open the closed class for bookings.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in response to the monetary dilution penalty exceeding the monetary stimulation value, the booking instructions comprise instructions to keep the closed class closed for bookings.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating, to a reservation system, the booking instructions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the monetary stimulation value comprises:
determining, by the forecasting system modules, a proportion of the seat bookings that are product oriented; and
multiplying, by the forecasting system modules, the proportion of the seat bookings that are product oriented by an average fare in a parent class of the closed class.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
creating, by the forecasting system modules and in real-time on an iterative basis and throughout a period of time, a voucher associated with the booking instructions, wherein the voucher changes throughout the period of time based on the monetary stimulation value, the forecasted demand, the monetary dilution penalty and the proportion of the seat bookings that are price oriented; and
providing, by the forecasting system modules and in real-time on the iterative basis and throughout the period of time and to a customer mobile device, the voucher associated with the booking instructions for the flight.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the loss associated with the seat booking in the closed class represents a difference in average fare between the closed class and a parent class.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the accessing, the determining the monetary stimulation value, the determining the monetary dilution penalty and the comparing are completed in real-time on an iterative basis throughout a period of time.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising allocating seat protects in a parent fare class until an expected marginal seat revenue (EMSR) in the parent fare class falls below an adjusted average fare of a child fare class.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the forecasting system modules, which fare classes in the plurality of fare classes have demand that is obscured;
calculating, by the forecasting system modules, an unobscured demand for the at least one fare class in the plurality of fare classes;
converting, by the forecasting system modules, the unobscured demand for the at least one fare class into integer values representing the seat bookings in the respective fare classes;
and updating, by the forecasting system modules, the bookings table file with the integer values to form an unobscured bookings table.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing, by the forecasting system modules, the bookings table file, wherein the bookings table file further contains information representing a net prime class seat booking for the flight, and wherein the net prime class seat booking occurred during a first time period;
determining, by the forecasting system modules, a floor class for the net prime class seat booking in the bookings table file;
determining, by the forecasting system modules, a displacement class for the net prime class seat booking in the bookings table file;
determining, by the forecasting system modules, a target class for the net prime class seat booking in the bookings table file, wherein the target class is the higher of the floor class and the displacement class; and
remapping, by the forecasting system modules, the net prime class seat booking in the bookings table file into the target class to form a remapped bookings table.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating, by the forecasting system modules, data for the seat bookings and the forecasted demand within the data structure by using a key field to speed searches.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
sorting, by the forecasting system modules, the data fields in the data structure according to a known order to simplify lookup; and
obtaining, by the forecasting system modules, the bookings table file from the frequently used bookings table files.

14. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by forecasting system modules, cause the forecasting system modules to perform operations comprising:
organizing, by the forecasting system modules, a database into data tables;
storing, by the forecasting system modules and in the database, a bookings table file containing seat bookings and forecasted demand for a flight as part of the data tables in the database; and
creating, by the forecasting system modules, a linked series of data fields to form a data structure that contains the bookings table file;
tuning, by the forecasting system modules, the database to optimize performance of the database, wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used bookings table files as indexes on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;
accessing, by the forecasting system modules and via an electronic network, the bookings table

Assignees

• American Airlines Inc

Inventors

• Tracy Jonathan
• Fox James
• Bowles Julianne
• Costello Michael
• Muzich Daniel
• Trenga Thomas

Classifications

• G06Q10/02 Primary

  Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events · CPC title

• G06Q10/0283 Primary

  for travel seating · CPC title