Southwest Airlines Selects CALEB
Technologies Corp's CrewSolver Software; Revolutionary Operations
Software Overcomes Schedule Delays Faster
AUSTIN, Texas --April 9, 2001--Southwest Airlines,
the nation's fourth largest carrier in terms of customer boardings,
has licensed CALEB(TM) Technologies Corp.'s CrewSolver(TM) software,
which enables the Company's 8,300 pilots and flight attendants to
return to their original schedules quickly after any delays to the
airline's more than 2,700 daily flights. Southwest will use the
CrewSolver product, a revolutionary decision support system, to
improve on-time performance, increase the satisfaction of its
customers and employees, and reduce the cost of air traffic control
delays, as well as mechanical and weather-related disruptions.
Implementation of the system will begin immediately, announced CALEB
Technologies, a worldwide leader in real-time, decision support
software (DSS).
"Southwest's flight schedule has several unique features to
maximize customer satisfaction: a high volume of daily flights, a 20
minute aircraft turnaround time at each airport instead of the 55
minute industry standard, a single fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft, and
unusually high standards for crew quality of life," explained Dr. Gang
Yu, CEO at CALEB Technologies. "These factors make Southwest's crew
schedules remarkably complex. When these schedules get bounced around
by air traffic delays or mechanical and weather disruptions, crew
redeployment becomes a very big and very crucial task. And as
Southwest grows even more successful, the problem just gets larger."
The CrewSolver system will enable Southwest's crew coordinators to
reconfigure crew schedules in minutes-instead of hours-during flight
disruptions. "That will contribute to more on-time arrivals, so
Southwest can get its passengers to their destinations faster and
pilots and flight attendants to their homes sooner," said Greg Crum,
Southwest Airlines' Vice-President of Flight Operations. "And faster
crew scheduling solutions during air traffic delays and weather
disruptions will mean less uncertainty and shorter waits for Southwest
pilots," concluded Crum.
About the CrewSolver System
The CrewSolver software from CALEB Technologies manages aircrew
redeployment and recovery in real-time during airline irregular
operations. Airline crew coordinators use the system to reposition
crew resources, ensuring rapid recovery to the original, highly
optimized crew schedule. Currently, aircrew redeployment for large
disruptions at most airlines is done manually and takes several hours.
The CrewSolver product is the first software program to automatically
reconfigure crew schedules and employs a sophisticated decision making
model using revolutionary algorithms to calculate solutions to complex
problems in minutes. Solutions automatically conform to government
legalities, contractual obligations, specific crew qualifications, and
company business rules. The CrewSolver system minimizes the
system-wide cost of disruptions, improves on-time performance, and
increases customer satisfaction.
About Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines, now the nation's fourth largest carrier in
terms of Customer boardings, serves 58 airports in 57 cities in 29
states. The airline currently has more than 30,000 Employees and
operates more than 2,700 flights a day.
About CALEB Technologies Corporation
CALEB Technologies Corp. is an Austin-based software products
company providing Advanced Real-Time Decision Support Systems
(ARDSS(TM)) to the air transportation industry. The Corporation's core
products, OpsSolver(TM) and CrewSolver, enable airlines to quickly
recover and reschedule aircraft and flight crews after service
disruptions, saving each airline millions of dollars per year. CALEB
Technologies Corp. is developing additional airline solutions and a
range of software products in manufacturing, distribution,
communications, and workforce management. CALEB, CrewSolver,
OpsSolver, and ARDSS are trademarks of CALEB Technologies Corp.
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CONTACT: CALEB Technologies Corp., Austin
John Coombs, 512/617-2118
John.Coombs@calebtech.com