The right way to shape your digital transformation

Digital transformation isn’t something new, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and data-driven decision-making have been on the lips of many airline and airport operations executives. The reality, however, is that there has been little movement in some of the key functional areas, which if untapped could significantly impact the digital transformation initiatives of the airline or airport.

One key functional area that is close to my heart is operations, given that I come from an operations background! An airline or airport operations centre serves as the control hub and the people in this operational heartbeat have taken on the role of superheroes. There is more pressure on these teams to improve planning and real-time collaboration and that is where the new superhero enters the room – the operations analytics teams.

Operations analytics teams are on the rise and are integral to the success of a digital transformation strategy. The teams can tap into a wealth of data and derive invaluable insights to surface to teams across the operational teams and significantly accelerate the planning, real-time collaboration and post-ops analysis at an airline or airport.

This is where I have been focusing my time as VP of the Cirium Sky product, which acts as a digital gateway to Cirium’s high quality aviation data and analytics. I have been listening to airlines and airports globally to understand how data can truly make a difference. Through our discovery at Cirium, we see positional analytics as a key area of focus which if delved into could have a big impact on digital transformation.

Positional analytics

Most operations centres use maps to track flights and aircraft in real time but there’s so much more that can be analyzed. What if the operations teams could examine what was planned against what route was flown in both distance and time? And, what if those insights could be benchmarked against the competition? This would enable teams to see how consistent plans are and where they can be adjusted, and in the real-time, use the positional analytics to predict arrival times and provide more accurate insights to the teams that need it.

The key to doing this is to access data that can be trusted, fuse multiple datasets together and make it interconnected across the teams that need it.

Cirium is working with airlines doing this and the insights are fascinating. Two major airlines are examining Cirium’s positional data and analytics through Cirium Sky Warehouse, building a story of their flights and analyzing where others might be taking a different approach to their flying. The initial focus is centred on particular events such as weather or runway closures and learning how that affects their program. This valuable information is then being fed back into planning departments for future events of those types.

Together we can transform the future of travel.