Assume that you are the Industrial Engineer working for the company and you have been given this task. Compile a report for the partners Mr. Douglas and Mr. Ozatalay answering questions 1 & 2 posed in the case study. Your response should combine the questions into a well-laid-out management report. The report must be clear, concise and to the point, answering the line of inquiry both effectively and efficiently.

All necessary evidence such as tables etc, must be clear and direct to the point in the report. The report must contain your substantiation for the conclusions and recommendations that you would have made.

Alabama Airlines Alabama Airlines opened its doors in June 1995 as a commuter With business growing quickly, Douglas turned his attenservice with its headquarters and only hub located in Birming- tion to Alabama Air's toll-free reservations system. Between ham. A product of airline deregulation, Alabama Air joined midnight and 6:00 A.M., only one telephone reservations agent the growing number of successful short-haul, point-to-point had been on duty. The time between incoming calls during this airlines, including Lone Star, Comair, Atlantic Southeast, period is distributed as shown in Table 13.15. Douglas carefully Skywest, and Business Express. observed and timed the agent and estimated that the time taken Alabama Air was started and managed by two former pilots. to process passenger inquiries is distributed as shown in David Douglas (who had been with the defunct Eastern Airlines) Table 13.16. and Savas Ozatalay (formerly with Pan Am). It acquired a fleet of All customers calling Alabama Air go on hold and are 12 used prop-jet planes and the airport gates vacated by the 1994 served in the order of the calls unless the reservations agent is downsizing of Delta Air Lines. TABLE 13.15 Incoming Call Distribution TABLE 13.17 Incoming Call Distribution TABLE 13.16 Service Time Distribution Further, the airline is planning a new TV advertising campaign. As a result, it expects an increase in toll-free-line phone inquiries. Based on similar campaigns in the past, the incoming call distribution from midnight to 6 A.M. is expected to be as shown in Table 13.17. (The same service time distribution will apply.) Discussion Questions 1. What would you advise Alabama Air to do for the current reservation system based on the original call distribution? Create a simulation model to investigate the scenario. Describe the model carefully and justify the duration of the simulation, assumptions, and measures of performance. 2. What are your recommendations regarding operator utilization and customer satisfaction if the airline proceeds second agent should be on duty to cope with customer demand. with the advertising campaign? To maintain customer satisfaction, Alabama Air does not want a customer on hold for more than 3 to 4 minutes and also wants to Sourcei Professor Zbigniew H. Prasnyski, Loyola Marymount Universily. maintain a "high" operator utilization