Network Market Additions & Deletions Audit

Document Overview

• Document Name: Network Market Additions & Deletions Audit Guide
• Description: Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and analytical framework for conducting network market additions and deletions audits by comparing two consecutive weekly airline schedule publications (Current vs. Previous SSIM releases).

1. Business Context & Strategic Purpose

Airline schedule publications fluctuate weekly due to commercial strategy, capacity adjustments, aircraft availability, seasonal adjustments, and partner joint venture realignments.

The Network Market Additions & Deletions Audit isolates true network topology changes between two schedule snapshots to:

• Detect new route entries and market exits across competitors and alliance partners.
• Segregate network shifts across Mainline Own-Metal, Regional CPA / Wet Lease, and Marketing Codeshares.
• Verify that regional contract flying and bilateral/JV marketing placements accurately reflect planned commercial deployments.

2. Technical Scope & Data Specifications

2.1 Core Audit Parameters

Parameter	Value	Description
Target Carrier	[IATA Code]	2-letter airline code (e.g., DL, UA, AA, LH, BA).
Service Type	'J'	Scheduled Passenger Flights only (SSIM Record Type 3, Col 14). Filters out freight (F), positioning (P), and charter flights.
Schedule Horizon	All Future Active Dates	Operating horizon covering all active flight legs in both releases.
Datasets	Current vs. Previous	The two most recent weekly schedule snapshots.

2.2 Operational Layer Segmentation & SSIM DEI Mappings

In standard IATA SSIM Chapter 4, operating relationships are governed by explicit disclosure flags and Data Element Identifiers (DEIs):

Operational Category	Disclosure Flag (operating_airline_disclosure)	SSIM DEI Mapping	Operational Definition
Mainline Own-Metal	NULL or Blank	None	Flown with the carrier's own aircraft, crew, and designator.
Regional CPA / Wet Lease	X	DEI 127 (Operating Airline)	Published under the carrier's flight designator, but physically operated by an affiliate or wet lease carrier. DEI 127 identifies the operating carrier name/code.
Marketing Codeshare	L, S, Z	DEI 50 (Operating Flight)	Target carrier places its marketing code on another carrier's flight. DEI 50 specifies the exact operating airline and operating flight number.

SSIM Disclosure Codes Breakdown:

• X: Aircraft Leased / Operational Carrier Disclosure (Wet Lease / Capacity Purchase Agreement). Operating carrier provided in DEI 127.
• L: Shared Airline Designator / Codeshare. Operating flight provided in DEI 50.
• S: Joint Operation / Codeshare. Operating flight provided in DEI 50.
• Z: Alliance / Bilateral Codeshare. Operating flight provided in DEI 50.

3. Comparison & Analytical Logic

flowchart LR
   A[Previous Schedule Dataset<br/>Unique Origin -> Destination Pairs] --> C[Set Difference]
   B[Current Schedule Dataset<br/>Unique Origin -> Destination Pairs] --> C
   C --> D[Dropped Markets<br/>In Previous, not Current]
   C --> E[Added Markets<br/>In Current, not Previous]

1. Market Extraction:
   • Extract distinct directional sectors (Origin -> Destination) and non-directional city pairs (O&D) for the target carrier from both the Current and Previous schedule releases.
2. Delta Identification:
   • Added Markets: Sectors present in the Current schedule dataset that were absent in the Previous dataset.
   • Dropped Markets: Sectors present in the Previous schedule dataset that were removed in the Current dataset.
3. Metal & Flight Resolution:
   • For Wet Lease / CPA (X): extract the operating entity from DEI 127.
   • For Codeshares (L, S, Z): extract the underlying operating airline and flight number from DEI 50.
4. Commercial Classification:
   • Assign route function (e.g., Hub Feeder, Transatlantic Trunk, Spoke-to-Spoke, Leisure Seasonal).

4. Deliverable Requirements

Every audit execution must produce the following four structured deliverables in full:

4.1 Executive Summary Table

Summarizes market dynamics across the three operational layers:

• Operating Category (Mainline, Regional CPA / Wet Lease, Marketing Codeshare)
• Total Markets Added
• Total Markets Dropped
• Net Market Delta

4.2 Table 1: Added Markets (New Sectors)

Lists every newly initiated sector:

• Origin Airport: IATA code and Airport/City name
• Destination Airport: IATA code and Airport/City name
• Operating Category: Mainline / Wet Lease (CPA) / Codeshare
• Operating Flight / Carrier: Resolved from DEI 127 (for X) or DEI 50 (for L, S, Z)
• Commercial Function / Route Type: Hub Feeder, Trunk, Spoke, Leisure

4.3 Table 2: Dropped Markets (Discontinued Sectors)

Lists every discontinued sector:

• Origin Airport: IATA code and Airport/City name
• Destination Airport: IATA code and Airport/City name
• Operating Category: Mainline / Wet Lease (CPA) / Codeshare
• Operating Flight / Carrier: Resolved from DEI 127 (for X) or DEI 50 (for L, S, Z)
• Operational Context: Seasonal Suspension, Route Cancellation, Partner Termination

4.4 Strategic Takeaways & Network Insights

• Mainline & Regional Footprint: Shifts between mainline flying and regional CPA capacity allocations.
• Alliance & JV Movements: Expansions or retractions in marketing codeshare coverage across partner carriers.
• Geographic Corridors: Highlighting key growth regions and discontinued spokes.

5. Ready-to-Run Natural Language Prompt

PROMPT

Run a comprehensive Network Market Additions & Deletions Audit for carrier [Carrier IATA Code, e.g., DL, AA, UA, LH, BA] by performing a full directional and non-directional market delta comparison between the two latest published weekly schedule datasets (Current Dataset vs. Previous Dataset). CRITICAL GENERATION REQUIREMENT: You must generate and output ALL THREE tables and the strategic analysis section completely in markdown format. Do not truncate, omit, or replace any table with summaries. 1. SCOPE & PARAMETERS: - Target Carrier: [Carrier IATA Code] - Service Type: Scheduled Passenger Flights only (service_type = 'J') - Schedule Horizon: All active future operating dates across both datasets - Operating Segments: * Mainline Own-Metal: operating_airline_disclosure IS NULL * Regional CPA / Wet Lease: operating_airline_disclosure = 'X' (Operating carrier identified via DEI 127) * Marketing Codeshare: operating_airline_disclosure IN ('L', 'S', 'Z') (Operating flight identified via DEI 50) 2. COMPARISON & RESOLUTION LOGIC: - Distinct Markets: Extract all unique origin-destination pairs (both directional Origin -> Destination and city-pair O&D) for both the Current and Previous schedule releases. - Added Markets: Sectors present in the Current schedule dataset that were absent in the Previous dataset. - Dropped Markets: Sectors present in the Previous schedule dataset that were removed in the Current dataset. - Metal Resolution: * For Regional CPA / Wet Lease ('X'): resolve operating carrier via SSIM 4 DEI 127. * For Marketing Codeshares ('L', 'S', 'Z'): resolve the underlying operating flight (carrier and flight number) via SSIM 4 DEI 50. 3. REQUIRED OUTPUT STRUCTURE (Generate all 3 sections in full): ### 1. Executive Summary Table | Operating Category | Total Markets Added | Total Markets Dropped | Net Delta | |:---|:---:|:---:|:---:| | Mainline Own-Metal | [Count] | [Count] | [+/- Count] | | Regional CPA / Wet Lease ('X') | [Count] | [Count] | [+/- Count] | | Marketing Codeshare Partners ('L', 'S', 'Z') | [Count] | [Count] | [+/- Count] | | **Total Network** | **[Sum]** | **[Sum]** | **[Net Total]** | ### 2. Table 1: Added Markets (New Sectors) List all added sectors without row omissions: | Origin (IATA & Name) | Destination (IATA & Name) | Operating Category | Operating Flight / Carrier | Commercial Function / Route Type | |:---|:---|:---|:---|:---| | [e.g., ATL - Atlanta] | [e.g., TUL - Tulsa] | Mainline / Wet Lease (CPA) / Codeshare | [e.g., OO / AF 006] | Hub Feeder / Trunk / Spoke / Leisure | ### 3. Table 2: Dropped Markets (Discontinued Sectors) List all discontinued sectors without row omissions: | Origin (IATA & Name) | Destination (IATA & Name) | Operating Category | Operating Flight / Carrier | Operational Context / Discontinuation Type | |:---|:---|:---|:---|:---| | [e.g., BOS - Boston] | [e.g., STT - St. Thomas] | Mainline / Wet Lease (CPA) / Codeshare | [e.g., OO / AF 006] | Seasonal Suspension / Permanent Cut / Partner Termination | ### 4. Strategic Takeaways & Network Insights Provide bullet points covering: - Core mainline and regional CPA network shifts and route redistribution. - Alliance / Joint Venture (JV) codeshare footprint expansions or contractions. - Key geographic growth corridors (e.g., Transatlantic, Latin America, Domestic Spoke Feeder expansion).

6. Analytical Best Practices

tip

Full Table Integrity When handling large network carrier audits (e.g., AA, DL, UA), output row counts can be substantial. The prompt's generation requirement ensures the LLM does not substitute intermediate rows with ellipsis (...).

note

Distinguishing Seasonal Adjustments from Route Terminations A dropped market in a winter dataset that operated in the preceding summer dataset should be categorized under Seasonal Suspension rather than a structural route closure. Cross-referencing year-over-year same-season data confirms seasonality.