See inside American Airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

American Airlines manages its planes and crewmembers from its storm-withstanding operations center in Dallas/Fort Worth, which supports some 500,000 customers per day. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

  • American Airlines runs its giant aircraft operation from a tornado-withstanding facility in Texas.
  • The Integrated Operations Center houses over 20 teams and supports nearly 6,000 daily flights.
  • The IOC relies on a special automation software called "HEAT" to better manage flight disruptions.

American Airlines' pilots, flight attendants, and airport staff are the face of nearly 6,000 flights operated by the carrier around the world each day.

However, a team of nearly 1,700 other employees who work behind the scenes in a giant operational center hidden from the public is just as essential to plane movement.

American invited Business Insider to tour its Integrated Operations Center, or IOC, at its headquarters in Dallas/Fort Worth. For privacy reasons, the company requested photos of certain screens, and employees' faces be blurred.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

Groat said the IOC, which employs some 1,700 employees, can withstand an EF3-strength tornado. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Mark Groat, American's IOC system customer service manager who led the mid-May tour, described the 149,000-square-foot, tornado-resistant IOC as the "nerve center" of the airline.

It runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The complex houses over 20 teams responsible for dispatching planes, monitoring weather, organizing maintenance and cargo, and preventing misconnects, among myriad other duties.

The IOC doesn't look like your typical cubicle office

American's open-space IOC is strategically set up to enable communication and collaboration between the teams, Groat said.

For example, the lights are dimmed to reduce strain when looking at screens all day, and the phones use a color light system above each seat to indicate if that person is on a call.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

These employees have a red-green system. Groat said crew schedulers have a different phone system that uses blue and white lights. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

"A red light means you're on the phone, and a green light means your phone is ringing," Groat said, noting the maintenance team, for example, has a line to airport hangars. "So, you can kind of gauge just looking over the floor what kind of day we're having."

He noted on busy days when everyone is talking and walking around, white noise is pumped into the IOC to keep the room quiet.

American uses automation to help manage irregular operations

American's delay and cancellation rate isn't the best in the US, but the carrier climbed to third place in 2023, according to the aviation data provider Cirium. It lost to Delta Air Lines and narrowly edged out United Airlines.

All of these disruptions pass through the heart of the IOC in a section called the "bridge." This is where the IOC director oversees and guides the thousands of daily flights.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

IOC employees working on the "bridge" during BI's tour. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Alongside the director are managers who work with American's hubs, like Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, and Charlotte, to build plans for "irregular operations" that will impact the fewest customers possible. They're looking at things like staffing, resources, and gate constraints, Goat said.

While much of this analysis is done manually, Goat said American launched a new automation tool last year known as the "Hub Efficiency Analytics Tool," or HEAT, to help dispatchers, coordinators, and other employees make more proactive decisions.

It analyzes things like when a crew member exceeds their regulated duty period, which flights have the greatest number of connecting customers, how many top-tier loyalty customers are flying, and whether impacted flights are domestic or international — domestic being easier to accommodate.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

A giant television near the center of the IOC displays the diversion airports used at that time, with the colors indicating how close to capacity each is. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

"Instead of separate units canceling flights one by one and customers being rebooked repeatedly, HEAT allows us to update the system with all the delays and cancellations at one time," Groat said.

"This maintains the integrity of connecting bags, and it means we aren't arbitrarily rerouting somebody who could have ultimately made their connection."

On the day of my visit, smoke from a wildfire in the Bahamas was impacting operations at Nassau International Airport. IOC employees were walking desk-to-desk discussing options, while others were analyzing how flights would be impacted — which is where HEAT could come into play.

"We'll most likely divert en route planes to Miami to wait out the event," Groat said. "If the delay times get longer and crew time becomes an issue, we'll have to evaluate options like canceling some flights or consolidating two into one so we can get our resources back into the system and where they need to be."

Crew scheduling and dispatch are among the biggest teams

Planes can't go anywhere without at least two pilots and at least one flight attendant per 50 seats. Crew scheduling is responsible for keeping some 14,000 crew on track every day.

There are three different areas within the crew scheduling department, Groat said. One handles day-to-day crewing, a second is responsible for tracking disruptions and calling in reserves, and a third helps make decisions regarding delays and cancellations.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

Crew schedulers track around 14,000 crewmembers daily. Groat said HEAT has prevented thousands of flight delays and cancellations since its launch. Robert Alexander/Getty Images

The job relies on computer systems and knowledge of specific regulations regarding fatigue and duty time, but American also provides automation tools like HEAT to help schedulers quickly and accurately staff flights.

He noted that there are times when things get so displaced that not every flight can be accommodated, so the crew coordinators identify "critical" flights that need to be prioritized for operational needs.

For example, if a key plane doesn't make it to its next airport and no replacement can get there either, a chain of disruption could occur.

Beyond crew scheduling, nearly half of the IOC floor is dedicated to teams that oversee specific fleets, including sections for the Boeing 737 family, the Airbus A320 family, and widebody jets.

These teams consist of flight dispatchers, planners who work with maintenance, and crew coordinators. There are also customer service managers who are "the voice of the passenger" and try to proactively find solutions during disruptions.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

Groat said the fleet-specific teams are broken down by hub, with about 1 million flights dispatched annually from the IOC. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Groat also pointed to a relatively new but highly specialized team of irregular operations leads who examine long-term strategies to prevent hourslong delays from impacting flights down the line.

For example, the team may consider rerouting specific planes over water to avoid severe weather in Florida or analyze how de-icing delays in Chicago could impact departures, he said.

"Every flight that we can route around a disruptor is another slot we keep flying," he said.

Smaller workgroups are still essential to the operation

While crew scheduling and dispatchers make up the IOC's bigger work groups, smaller teams like cargo and maintenance coordinators, load planners, air traffic liaisons, regional dispatchers, and unaccompanied minor organizers also have roles to fill.

"When disruption happens, we need to know what cargo is on the airplane that we need to care for, like perishable items, live animals, or pharmaceuticals," Groat said. "Load planners ensure the aircraft are within the right weight and balance."

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

American has three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines. Contract carriers like Republic Airways and Mesa Airlines also fly on behalf of American. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Regional dispatchers coordinate American's subsidiary and contract flying and help find replacement planes when the regional side is disrupted. Groups like schools and sports teams are especially harder to re-accommodate

A command center is set up for emergency events

The command center is a giant, glass-enclosed room that is designated for incidents and accidents. Groat said it's only been put to use twice since moving into the IOC building in 2015.

He said the first use was after the bomb attack at Brussels Airport in 2016, which didn't impact American directly, but the airline still used the command center as a point of contact to help find where its customers and team members were.

microsoft, see inside american airlines' massive flight operations center, where it dispatches 6,000 flights every day

The command center is located in the glassed room behind the model aircraft. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Groat said the second event was the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after two crashes killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

"For the Max, we had 24 planes taken out of the system very quickly, and all of them were in Miami," he said. "We needed the means to find replacement aircraft from other parts of the system to restore the schedule there."

If you enjoyed this story, be sure to follow Business Insider on Microsoft Start.

OTHER NEWS

18 minutes ago

Commonwealth Bank June report on state economies shows WA leads the pack

19 minutes ago

Copa América continues Monday at NRG Stadium with Colombia taking on Paraguay

22 minutes ago

This Apple Pencil can make drawing, writing, and sketching easier for $60

26 minutes ago

Anti-Israel couple in Range Rover arrested at gunpoint during LA protest with keffiyeh-clad toddler in backseat

26 minutes ago

AI Creates The Perfect '90s Lord Of The Rings Movie Trailer & Cast

26 minutes ago

Active shooting incidents in the US declined by 4% from 2022 to 2023: FBI

26 minutes ago

Why Lando Norris’ stone-faced response to Spanish GP missed opportunity speaks volumes

26 minutes ago

Aileen Cannon To Rule if Jack Smith Can Use 'Highly Incriminating Evidence'

26 minutes ago

Tennis-Sinner more confident ahead of Wimbledon after first grasscourt title

26 minutes ago

Top 15 schools to have produced the most Springboks – UPDATED

26 minutes ago

South Africa send West Indies crashing out of T20 World Cup

26 minutes ago

Switzerland floods: One dead and search continues for others as resort left completely cut off

26 minutes ago

At this Dubai café, you can get Maggi and tea for Dh1

26 minutes ago

Japanese emperor to reconnect with the River Thames in state visit meant to bolster ties with UK

26 minutes ago

Kaizer Chiefs assistant to assess 32 players

26 minutes ago

Parents release ‘last known image’ of Jay Slater

26 minutes ago

Crowd work is the hottest thing in standup comedy – and not everybody is laughing

26 minutes ago

Victorian racing’s war of words heats up

26 minutes ago

UBS says renewable energy can meet 70% of electricity demand growth — these stocks benefit

32 minutes ago

Inflation data coming with big implications for Bank of Canada. What to expect

33 minutes ago

Violent Clashes Engulf Southern Russia as Putin 'Distracted' by Ukraine

33 minutes ago

Supermarkets ordered to play by new rules

33 minutes ago

Soccer-Dalic cites leaky defence, ageing squad for Croatia's struggles

33 minutes ago

David Adams: The powerful are against reconciliation in Northern Ireland because their positions depend on division

33 minutes ago

The Last Breath review – Julian Sands’s last film is solid shark-meets-shipwreck thriller

33 minutes ago

Households ‘must brace for tax rises over next five years’

33 minutes ago

NASA Identifies Asteroid with 72% Chance of Earth Impact

33 minutes ago

Opinion poll round-up with 10 days to go until the General Election

33 minutes ago

UK's Farage accused of 'Kremlin propaganda' after claiming the West provoked Ukraine invasion

33 minutes ago

Wounded pride - and some sore heads today! Dejected Tartan Army finds makeshift places to sleep after Scotland crashes out the Euros in bruising 1-0 defeat to Hungary

33 minutes ago

Video: Austin Butler leaves The Project's Sarah Harris 'flustered' by the actor's 'piercing gaze': 'Making me nervous'

33 minutes ago

How to spot YOUR home is at risk of subsidence and fix it without breaking the bank: Our property experts' guide to tackling the problem before it knocks a fifth of the value off your house

38 minutes ago

How Chris Boardman changed the game for the Tour de France in 1994

38 minutes ago

My GP dismissed my son's concerns he could get cancer from his fatty liver. What can he do? Ask DR MARTIN SCURR

38 minutes ago

The 'best kept secret in Essex' and the top 28 other villages in Britain to raise a family: Use our interactive guide to discover property experts' picks for safety, schools and community spirit

38 minutes ago

"I got so tired of everybody talking about these foreigners" - Nick Young says the Boston Celtics won the title for America

38 minutes ago

JK Rowling comments on Labour's transgender rights stance 'sad and depressing', says Wes Streeting

38 minutes ago

Custodian of Holy Kaaba passes away

38 minutes ago

Michael Jordan was hell-bent on tying Wilt Chamberlain's ASG scoring record:" Why didn't you tell me I was two points short of Wilt?"

38 minutes ago

Wim Hof in tears as he explains how he recovered from tragedy of losing his wife