Kenya Airways aircraft at JKIA in Nairobi. Several aircraft due back in service have been held up, compounding operational strain. [File, Standard] A hallmark of an airline’s operational excellence is the optimisation of its network. This is the disciplined pursuit of efficiency: Designing routes and allocating resources in ways that maximise value while minimising costs. It requires airlines to continually refine flight schedules, reshape route structures and deploy assets, most notably aircraft, with calculated intensity to extract the greatest return. Put more plainly, network optimisation is the art of getting passengers and cargo to their destinations by the best possible…