A methodology for determining student value in exploiting airline reservation technologies to improve Navy training quota management

Abstract

The Navy trains over 350,000 students a year. Quotas for the number of students to train are based on current and projected manning levels, as well as anticipated force requirements. Last year, students awaiting instruction exceeded 1.3 million mandays while, simultaneously, over 25% of the Navy's 330, 000 technical training seats went unfilled. The number of unfilled seats in classrooms, coupled with the large number of students awaiting instruction, identified the need to more closely manage the allocation of quotas. The use of yield management has been explored to determine if airline reservation technologies are applicable to solving the Navy training quota management problem. In order to apply yield management to the Navy training problem, the concept of value must be determined as it relates to a student attending a Navy training class. While airlines measure value in revenue generated, the Navy has no way of placing value on a particular student attending a particular class. This thesis identifies a methodology for determining student value within the Navy Training Quota Management System.