SkySoarer Airlines currently offers flights with service to a total of five cities: Abron, Bionia, Cordell, Dewark, and Epster. In...
GMAT Multi Source Reasoning : (MSR) Questions
SkySoarer Airlines currently offers flights with service to a total of five cities: Abron, Bionia, Cordell, Dewark, and Epster. In the diagram, circles represent the five cities. Each line connecting two circles is a flight line that represents all the direct flights currently offered between the two corresponding cities, each of which is called a \"terminus\" for all flights represented by the line. Flights are offered in both directions for each flight line in the diagram, and all flights currently offered by SkySoarer are represented in the diagram. The label for each flight line shows the duration, in minutes, of each of the flights between the two cities the line connects, followed by the average annual revenue, in millions of dollars, generated by all SkySoarer flights between the two cities.
If a direct flight is not available between a passenger's departure city and destination city, SkySoarer passengers may take a sequence of flights to arrive at their destination. The total flight time for such a trip is the sum of the durations of all flights on the trip.
SkySoarer has decided its new flight line should have a projected annual revenue of more than \(\$20\text{ million}\). The implementation of the line should also make it possible to travel between any two of the currently serviced cities by taking at most two flights. For each of the following proposed new lines, if, based on the information provided, the line satisfies these requirements, select Yes. Otherwise, select No.
Line AD
Line BE
Line DE
Owning the Dataset
Understanding Source A: Network Diagram - Current SkySoarer Airlines Flight Routes
Chart/Diagram Analysis
- The diagram shows SkySoarer's current flight network connecting 5 cities: Abron, Bionia, Cordell, Dewark, and Epster
- The airline operates in exactly 5 cities with a complete current network
- Each line represents bidirectional flights between two cities, with labels showing:
- Flight duration (minutes)
- Annual revenue (millions of dollars)
- If no line exists between two cities, there are no direct flights between them
- The network has exactly 5 flight lines connecting the 5 cities
- Current routes include:
- Abron-Bionia (101 min/$33.1M)
- Abron-Cordell (63 min/$18.7M)
- Bionia-Cordell (96 min/$27.3M)
- Bionia-Dewark (78 min/$18.1M)
- Cordell-Epster (57 min/$17.6M)
- Key Findings:
- Dewark and Epster are the only city pair without a direct connection
- Revenue varies significantly across routes, from $17.6M to $33.1M annually
- Flight times range from 57 to 101 minutes for existing routes
- Passengers can take connecting flights when no direct route exists
- Total time is the sum of individual flight durations (connection times not included)
Summary: Source A reveals SkySoarer's current network of 5 cities connected by 5 bidirectional routes, with Dewark and Epster being the only unconnected city pair.
Understanding Source B: Table - Proposed New Flight Line Options
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| ""SkySoarer has conducted research to determine the merits of adding a single new flight line"" |
|
| ""adding a new line while making no other changes will reduce the annual revenue provided by all flight lines that share a terminus with the new line by 10%"" |
|
| Table shows 5 proposed lines: AD (85 min, $11.2M cost, $20.1M revenue), AE (90 min, $3.1M cost, $17.2M revenue), BE (111 min, $15.4M cost, $18.8M revenue), CD (141 min, $20.1M cost, $24.4M revenue), DE (174 min, $12.4M cost, $29.1M revenue) |
|
Summary: Source B presents 5 new route options with varying costs and revenues, where adding any route would reduce revenues on connecting existing routes by 10%, creating complex trade-offs between new revenue and impacts on current profitable routes.
Overall Summary
- SkySoarer Airlines faces a strategic expansion decision to add one new route to their 5-city network
- The highest revenue option (DE route at $29.1M) would:
- Connect the only unconnected city pair (Dewark-Epster)
- Be the longest flight at 174 minutes
- The 10% revenue reduction on existing routes sharing cities with the new route means actual net benefit requires careful calculation
- The cheapest option (AE at $3.1M) offers:
- Much lower implementation cost
- Lower revenue potential
- This illustrates the complex optimization problem facing the airline
Question Analysis
In Plain Terms
- For each proposed new flight line, determine if it both:
- Has projected annual revenue exceeding $20 million AND
- Would enable travel between any two cities using at most 2 flights
Key Constraints
- Projected annual revenue must be MORE than $20 million
- After implementation, ANY two cities must be reachable with at most 2 flights
- Both requirements must be satisfied for a 'Yes' answer
- Answer Format: Binary evaluation (Yes/No) for each of three proposed lines
Connecting to Our Passage Analysis
- The analysis provides revenue data for all proposed lines and network connectivity information
- Need to check each line's revenue against $20M threshold
- Must evaluate if adding it would complete network connectivity within 2-flight constraint
- Can answer from analysis alone: Yes - analysis contains all revenue figures and network structure needed
Detailed Evaluation
Current Network Status
- Current network has a connectivity gap: Dewark-Epster requires 3 flights (must go through Bionia then Cordell)
- A line satisfies requirements if: revenue > $20M AND it enables all city pairs to connect within 2 flights
Line-by-Line Analysis
Line AD (Abron and Dewark)
- Revenue: $20.1 million annual revenue
- Revenue Check: $20.1M > $20M ✓
- Connectivity Impact: Meets revenue requirement BUT adding AD still leaves Dewark-Epster requiring 3 flights
Line BE (Bionia and Epster)
- Revenue: $18.8 million annual revenue
- Revenue Check: $18.8M < $20M ✗
- Connectivity Impact: Fails revenue requirement (though it would solve connectivity by allowing Dewark→Bionia→Epster in 2 flights)
Line DE (Dewark and Epster)
- Revenue: $29.1 million annual revenue
- Revenue Check: $29.1M > $20M ✓
- Connectivity Impact: Meets revenue requirement AND directly connects the problematic Dewark-Epster gap
Systematic Connectivity Verification
- Current problem: Dewark↔Epster requires 3 flights minimum
- Line AD: Would not reduce Dewark-Epster to 2 flights (still need Dewark→Abron→Cordell→Epster = 3)
- Line BE: Would enable Dewark→Bionia→Epster = 2 flights ✓
- Line DE: Would directly connect Dewark↔Epster = 1 flight ✓
- Other pairs: All other city pairs already reachable in 2 flights or less
Final Answer
- Line AD: No
- Line BE: No
- Line DE: Yes
Line AD
Line BE
Line DE