This is the icon for Slot Wizard:

How slots work in N-OC

Slots are separate objects in the system, which means that they are completely independent and can exist without the need to first create a schedule, however, slots can be linked to an existing schedule. This can be considered as a kind of reference, stating that a slot belongs to a specific schedule. A slot can belong to no schedules at all, or one or two schedules, depending on how it is created. 

Unlinked

If the slot is created in the Slot Wizard, it will belong to zero schedules. This is referred to as 'Unlinked'.

One Schedule

If it is a Departure or Arrival slot, it belongs to one schedule.

For example, on the right side, there is no such display. This indicates that no slot for the leg 6Y124 is required (as it is not a coordinated airport).

Two Schedules

If it is a so-called 'Turnaround' slot, it belongs to two schedules. 

Here is an example of how a slot is displayed in the Schedule Gantt. The semicircular green displays on the left side of the leg of MH457. This indicates that the schedule is linked with a slot for the coordinated airport LHR. 

Schedules without slots

Schedules can also exist in N-OC without a slot in the system, even if the schedule has coordinated stations. If checked in the Slot Wizard, it would not display the slot at all. This is rectified by generating slots required based on the loaded schedule. The system will run a check for all coordinated stations, and if any schedules are missing slots, the Slot Wizard creates them. 

In this example, the schedule is missing a slot for the coordinated airport CPH, but there is a slot for the same schedule for the coordinated airport EDI.

Slot Wizard

Before you can use the Slot Wizard, you need to configure it in N-OC. The Slot Wizard is located on the icon bar at the top of the Schedule Gantt.

The Slot Wizard handles all slot tracking and communication for sending airport slot clearance messages, such as SCR/SMA, as well as receiving responses from the Slot Coordinators. To that end, it also tracks such things as slot statuses (based on the responses received and requests made) and Historical slot tracking.

You can also access the Slot Wizard by right-clicking a flight leg or legs (Single or multi slot icon) as shown below:

Single mode (one flight leg)

Multi Mode (Multiple flight legs selected)

Slot Levels

Before using Slot Wizard for an airport, you first need to set up the required airport slot level at the respective station. Go to Locations -> Stations and select the desired station (or create a new station). 

Slot Levels are set up in the Station window.

There are three types of airport Slot Levels:

• Level 1 - Non-Coordinated
• Level 2 - Schedules Facilitated (SMA)
• Level 3 - Coordinated (SCR).

Note: At a Schedules Facilitated airport, a schedules facilitator assists the operations of airlines who propose to operate to or from that airport.  At a Coordinated airport, an airline may not operate there unless a slot has been approved by the airport (slot) coordinator.

Setting up the Slot Level

In the Slot Level dropdown list, select the correct Slot Level for the airport and click the SAVE button.

Setting up Receivers for the Slot Clearance Messages

You also need to set up the receiver (or recipient) for the messages. This is done in the Automation Factory and use the event name: 'Slot'. 

Slot Wizard

Main Grid Grid columns

Main Grid Functionality

1. Each row in the grid represents a slot, which displays the latest status received from the slot coordinator, such as H or K.
   
   
2. The color of the rows indicates the slot status.
   
   
3. The columns in the header of the grid are all clickable, so the user can sort by that column in ascending or descending order.
   
   
4. By clicking a slot row, you can expand it and show the history of actions taken on that slot, in chronological order.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Depending on the action of the slot history row you can perform various actions, by right clicking on the row, it will open the context menu.
   
6. You can right-click on the action code in the Context menu to:
   • View Message. This opens a dialogue and displays the message related to that row.
   • Delete
   • Accept. This is available for offers and accepts the offer that is clicked on. Its Action code is O.
   • Improve. This is available for offers, same as accept but you want improvement. Its Action code is O.
   • Decline. This is available for offers and declines the offer. Its Action code is O. 
   • Historical Accept. This is available for historical right and accepts the historical slot. Its Action code is H.
   • Change. This is available for slots accepted by coordinator and will open the modify existing clearance dialogue. The Action codes are H, K, and N.
   • Undo. This is available for all rows that were added by actions in the Wizard and are identified by a dark gray background.
     
7. Checkboxes are used to send the message for selected slots (Not Sent slots). To select multiple rows at the same time click one and then hold shift and click another one and all the rows between will also be selected. To select/unselect all rows click the checkbox in the header.

Dialogue Buttons

Loading Slots (Retrieval) 

• Valid From and Valid To are dates to load slots from. They are initially set to today's date and the end of the season.
• Filter allows you to filter out specific slots. The filters are created in a Filter Dialogue.
• Update button loads data with the parameters from 1 and 2 then populates the grid.

Quick Filters 

Quick filters are filters that temporarily filter out data in the grid without reloading data. each field can have multiple filter data separated by a space character.

Based on the Quick Filter input, the numbers at the right shows the results of all total slots found.

Legend

The LEGEND button shows information about the grid row colors and status.

New button

This button opens the create new slot dialogue. 

Generate Slots

This button finds all schedules that do not have slot data and generates slots for them if they are connected to coordinated stations.

Cancel button

This button closes the Slot Wizard without saving.

Next button

This button generates messages for all the work made in the grid. It goes to the next step where you can see the addressee and the actual SCR / SMA message.

Delete button 

If you select a slot by checking the checkbox and click the DELETE button, it deletes all the slots and slot transactions connected to that slot from the Database.

New dialogue

Buttons around the dialogue include the X and the CANCEL button that closes the new dialogue without saving. The ADD button adds a new row and you can create multiple new slots at the same time. The SAVE button saves the slot to the main grid and closes the new dialogue.

Change dialogue

This has the same surrounding buttons as the New dialogue. The columns in the table are the same as in the main grid except for:

• Action Code - You can select C or M for the change slot data line. You can also select between R, L, and I for the revised row.
• Overnight - You can set overnight value (number between 0-9)  and indication that the aircraft transit/turnaround occurs over midnight.
• Remove button - You can remove the row without saving it.
• GI - General information not related to the data line, example BRGDS.
• SI - Supplementary Information is such free text information that cannot be stated within the frames of the standard format for a message or record. 

Sending/Resending Slots

Select the slots you want to send by clicking the checkbox to the right on the slot row. To select a range of slots, check the checkbox of the first one then hold down the shift-key when pressing the last in the range. All the slots in between will be selected. To select all slots, check the checkbox in the header of the grid. 

To send the selected slots, click the NEXT button and leave the messages checked. After, click the SAVE button.

Note: If you have selected a slot but apply a quick filter that hides it, it will not count as selected when clicking the NEXT button.

The Slot Wizard creates slot messages in four cases:

• By selecting slots with the status Not Sent and Sent for sending and resending messages.
• If an old slot is edited in any way.
• If you create new slots with the NEW button.
• If you generate slots with the GENERATE SLOTS button.

It is only the first case that requires that the slot is selected with the checkbox. All the other cases will create messages even if they are filtered out with the quick filters.

Deleting slots

There are two distinct ways of deleting a slot:

• Send a delete message to the coordinator. This is done by expanding the slot in the grid and right-clicking the last slot in the conversation history and selecting delete. It will create a delete conversation that will be sent when you click the NEXT button.
  
• Selecting a particular single flight (slot) or multiple flights (slot) with the checkboxes then clicking the DELETE button. This does not send a message and it will permanently remove the slot and all of its conversation history from the whole system.
  

Schedule Linking

Schedule Marker	Description
L	This is linked to Arrival and/or Departure station.
U	It is unlinked.
B	The leg has a link to a schedule, but the schedule has been removed. This means that you will lose your historical slot. You either have to delete the slot or add it to a schedule

Schedule Synchronization

Note: The system currently doesn't handle deviations between the slot and the schedule.

When you hover over the Schedule marker, you will see a tooltip displaying the issue. It can be any part of the schedule that is un-sync.      

Grid Fields 

Field	Description	Example
Checkmark	N/A
Station	This is the station of the request.
Link Type	This can be ARR, DEP, or ARR/DEP.
Sent Status	This is if it has been sent or not.
Action	The action code is used as communication between the airline and the coordinator. Refer to the legend for decoding.
Arr Flight	This is the arrival flight prefix and number.
Dep Flight	This is the departure flight prefix and number.
Valid From/To	This is the valid period of the slot request.
Freq	This is the frequency of the week
Seats	This is the seat configuration.
Type	This is the aircraft type.
Origin Arr Stn	This is the previous flight departure station.
Prev Arr Stn	This is the previous flight arrival station.
Arr Time	This is the arrival time of the requested slot.
Dep Time	This is the departure time of the requested slot.
O	This is the Overnight indicator. Enter “1” if the flight arrives the day after departure.
Next DEP STN	This is the next departure station after the requested slot.
Dest DEP Stn	This is the departure station of the next flight after the flight of the requested slot
Arr STC	This shows the arrival service type code.
Dep STC	This shows the departure service type code.
Week freq	The shows the day frequency.
Schedule	The slot is linked (L) or Sync (S) to a schedule. Link and Sync is important, if it is missing and changes are made to the flight, it can create issues with the slot. Whenever you make an AdHoc or schedule change, N-OC sends a slot message to the coordinator. If the flight is Linked and Synced, the response from the coordinator will be read into N-OC.
Status	It displays if it has been Sent, Not Sent, or Deleted.
Info	This shows the SI Info.