Patent ID: 8050936

Claim:
A computer implemented method, comprising: receiving a base schedule at a computer, the base schedule including a plurality of rotations, each rotation including one or more segments; generating a set of itineraries based upon the segments in the base schedule, each itinerary including an origin, a destination, and one or more segments linking the origin and the destination, each segment representing a scheduled flight between a departure station and an arrival station, the set of itineraries including a first subset of one or more nonstop itineraries having one segment linking the origin and destination and a second subset of itineraries having a plurality of segments linking the origin and destination; calculating, by operation of a computer, at least one of a circuity factor or a switchback angle for at least a subset of the set of itineraries, wherein the circuity factor is calculated as a comparison between an itinerary of the second subset of itineraries for a particular origin and destination and an itinerary of the first subset of nonstop itineraries for the particular origin and destination, and the switchback angle is calculated as an angle between a first imaginary line connecting a first departure station and a first arrival station for a first segment of an itinerary and a second imaginary line connecting a second departure station and a second arrival station of the itinerary, wherein the first arrival station is the same as the second departure station; identifying constraints, including at least one of a maximum circuity factor or a maximum switchback angle, wherein different maximum circuity factors apply to different itineraries based on a distance between the origin and destination in each of the different itineraries, and wherein the maximum switchback angle is selected based on at least one of the origin, the destination, or the distance between the origin and destination; and automatically analyzing, by operation of a computer, the second subset of itineraries to identify one or more valid itineraries within the second subset of itineraries, each valid itinerary representing a possible sequence of segments allowing a passenger to travel from an origin to a destination, each valid itinerary complying with one or more constraints including at least one of the maximum circuity factor or the maximum switchback angle.