Granted Patent B2

US 12,361,438 · App. 18/602,233 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Inventors: Jonathan Tracy (Tempe, AZ); James Fox (Tempe, AZ); Julianne Bowles (Tempe, AZ); Michael Costello (Tempe, AZ); Daniel Muzich (Phoenix, AZ); Thomas Trenga (Mesa, AZ)

Assignee: AMERICAN AIRLINES, INC.

G06Q30/0202

Abstract

Claims (87)

1. A method, comprising:

remapping, by one or more processors, a fare class to form a remapped bookings table;

storing, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table in a database;

tuning, by the one or more processors, the database having the remapped bookings table to optimize performance of the database,

wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used files containing the remapped bookings table on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;

designating, by the one or more processors, a key field in a plurality of related data tables to speed searching in the remapped bookings table;

merging, by the one or more processors, the plurality of related data tables based on a type of the remapped bookings table in the key field;

sorting, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table according to a known order to simplify a lookup process;

obtaining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table from the database;

combining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table with expected demand information to provide input to a forecasting system;

restricting, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, a number of upper-class seats from being booked; and

opening, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, additional lower-class seats for being booked.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a net prime class seat booking equals prior prime class bookings subtracted from current prime class bookings.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein information representing the net prime class seat booking is an integer.

4. The method of claim 2 ,

wherein information representing the net prime class seat booking is an integer, and

in response to determining that the integer is positive, decrementing, by the one or more processors, the integer in the remapped bookings table representing the net prime class seat booking.

5. The method of claim 2 ,

wherein information representing the net prime class seat booking is an integer,

in response to determining that the integer is negative, incrementing, by the one or more processors, the integer in the remapped bookings table representing the net prime class booking; and

decrementing, by the one or more processors, a value in the remapped bookings table representing bookings in a target class.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forecasting system uses an unobscuring module and an unconstraining module.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remapping uses a prime class remapping module.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the one or more processors, a floor class for a net prime class seat booking in the remapped bookings table;

determining, by the one or more processors, a displacement class for the net prime class seat booking in the remapped bookings table; and

determining, by the one or more processors and using a prime class remapping module, a target class for the net prime class seat booking in the remapped bookings table, wherein the target class is the higher of the floor class and the displacement class.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining the displacement class further comprises:

determining, by the one or more processors, if the floor class for the net prime class seat booking is closed;

in response to the floor class being open for bookings, determining, by the one or more processors, that the floor class and the displacement class are the same class; and

in response to the floor class being closed for bookings, determining, by the one or more processors, the displacement class as the lowest class that is both higher than the floor class that is closed and open for bookings.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the displacement class is a lowest class that is both higher than the floor class that is closed, and currently open for bookings.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating, by the one or more processors, with an airline central data repository and the forecasting system by invoking logic within modules by passing parameters relating to requests for data,

wherein the airline central data repository stores airline schedule data, airline route data, airline route plan data, airport terminal data and weather information,

wherein the forecasting system exchanges data with an airline reservations system, and

wherein the airline reservations system provides inventory based on an output of the forecasting system.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remapped bookings table contains information representing a net prime class seat booking for a flight.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing, by the one or more processors, updated tickets to access an airplane for a flight based on the remapped bookings table;

providing access information, by the one or more processors and to an airline kiosk, that allows access to the airplane to passengers with the updated tickets,

wherein the airline kiosk provides updated boarding passes with machine readable data to the passengers; and

receiving, by the one or more processors and from an airport scanner, scanned data from the updated tickets, wherein access to the airplane is provided in response to the airport scanner scanning the machine readable data on the updated tickets and verifying the machine readable data on the updated tickets.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

updating, by the one or more processors, an authorization parameter to create an updated authorization parameter for a flight based upon the remapped bookings table;

providing, by the one or more processors and to a revenue management system, the updated authorization parameter,

wherein the updated authorization parameter impacts the revenue management system and a reservation system,

wherein the revenue management system determines, based on the updated authorization parameter, a number of the bookings for the flight and a respective price for each booking,

wherein the revenue management system transmits to the reservation system the number of bookings for the flight and the respective price for each booking.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

converting, by the one or more processors, each of the bookings of a net prime class seat booking in the remapped bookings table into a target class;

converting, by the one or more processors, the net prime class seat booking for a flight into top-down format;

applying, by the one or more processors, an expectation maximization algorithm in iterative fashion to the remapped bookings table in top-down format to determine an unobscured demand for the fare class, in response to a demand for the fare class being obscured; and

converting, by the one or more processors, an expected demand information out of a top-down format into a discrete format, to eliminate double counting.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing denial information, by the one or more processors, that denies access to an airplane for a flight to denied passengers based on the remapped bookings table; and

compensating, by the one or more processors, the denied passengers.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing, by the one or more processors, booking options for seats on an airplane for a flight based on the remapped bookings table;

receiving, by the one or more processors, a booking from the booking options for a seat of the seats on the airplane; and

removing, by the one or more processors, an availability for the seat from the booking options.

18. An article of manufacture including one or more non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage mediums having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

remapping, by the one or more processors, a fare class to form a remapped bookings table;

storing, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table in a database;

tuning, by the one or more processors, the database having the remapped bookings table to optimize performance of the database,

wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used files containing the remapped bookings table on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;

designating, by the one or more processors, a key field in a plurality of related data tables to speed searching in the remapped bookings table;

merging, by the one or more processors, the plurality of related data tables based on a type of the remapped bookings table in the key field;

sorting, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table according to a known order to simplify a lookup process;

obtaining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table from the database;

combining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table with expected demand information to provide input to a forecasting system;

restricting, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, a number of upper-class seats from being booked; and

opening, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, additional lower-class seats for being booked.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more tangible, non-transitory memories configured to communicate with the one or more processors,

the one or more tangible, non-transitory memories having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

remapping, by the one or more processors, a fare class to form a remapped bookings table;

storing, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table in a database;

tuning, by the one or more processors, the database having the remapped bookings table to optimize performance of the database,

wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used files containing the remapped bookings table on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;

designating, by the one or more processors, a key field in a plurality of related data tables to speed searching in the remapped bookings table;

merging, by the one or more processors, the plurality of related data tables based on a type of the remapped bookings table in the key field;

sorting, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table according to a known order to simplify a lookup process;

obtaining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table from the database;

combining, by the one or more processors, the remapped bookings table with expected demand information to provide input to a forecasting system;

restricting, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, a number of upper-class seats from being booked; and

opening, by the one or more processors and based on the remapped bookings table, additional lower-class seats for being booked.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)