Data Science in and as the

future of the aviation industry

How data science can help and is helping the airlines scissor through a low profit, investment
intensive and sensitive industry
 • Aviation safety is critical and data intensive: An Airbus A350 creates
The problem close to 2.5 TB of data everyday from its 6000 odd sensors. Any
abnormality, failure or snags causing delays are key data points

and the need

which should be identified and used for predictions and preventions
in real-time. Safety is paramount in aviation.
• Smart and timely maintenance: With access to real-time data,
insights and predictive analysis, unscheduled maintenance causing
delays can be prevented.
• Revenue and cost optimization: With real-time data coming in from
sensors of aircraft as well as from ticketing websites, airlines need to
optimize the prices to target customers better as well as improve
fuel and operational efficiency. Data is necessary for that.
• Customer Satisfaction: Leveraging data carefully, airlines can ensure
customers are satisfied before, during and after their travel and
unpleasant experiences can be prevented or at least redressed.
 Where are the airlines
getting data from?

• Passenger/customer data: Airlines need to source data in

real-time from ticketing systems (GDS/in-house) regarding
customer demand, availability and bookings. Also on
deeper analysis, probably usage patterns, preferences and
nuances among customer cohorts
• Sensors on the aircraft: Aircraft systems today are highly
automated and are laden with a plethora of sensors.
Airbus A380 has 25000 odd sensors onboard and a Boeing
787 generates 500 GB of data approximately per flight.
The data generated can give insights into fuel efficiency
improvement, operational expense reduction, delay
minimization and averting incidents
• Airports: Self check-in kiosks, dispatching systems or
security check systems generate data that can give airlines
insights on how people get through airports and improve
their overall travel experience
 • Most of the airline tickets these days are sold online and they are often done using
airline websites or via GDS or on travel sites like Expedia etc.
Leveraging Data • The data to be harnessed from the ticketing systems lies majorly in the way customers

from Customers and potential customers are interacting online, the demand being signified, the
availability of seats at the moment and conversions happening at the same time.

(Ticketing) • Using predictive analytics, optimum ticket prices can be decided by airlines depending
on demand and availability.
• Also demand may be forecasted across weeks, months or seasons ahead and hence the
airline can decide on the equipment allocation, pricing and other measures to improve
the overall Load factor and hence profitability across routes.
Case of Success: Vueling

• Vueling Airlines, a Spanish low cost carrier airline which

operates out of its hubs in Barcelona, Spain and Rome, to
close to 150 destinations. It is the largest airline in Spain basis
the fleet size and destinations flown to.
• Vueling used to sell tickets via eDreams, one of its main
distributors. Vueling’s ability to collect insights on the
behavior of potential customers was hence limited and so was
the scope for identifying real demand and growth opportunity.
• Datumize solution: 50 M transactions per day analyzed and
dashboard created to monitor key metrics involving demand,
availability and conversions. Also weekday analysis and routes
were also graphically explored
• Helped with insights, Vueling has improved pricing, route
selection and booking forecasts for the channel
• Increased channel revenue by more than 4%
• Improved quality of booking service. More than 20% reduction
in Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
 Customer Satisfaction via Data
Analytics: British Airways & EasyJet

British Airways, the flag carrier of UK is among the

largest international airlines in the world
• British Airways (BA) committed 4.5 Bn GBP to digital
transformation in 2018
• BA launched “Know Me” Program in 2012
to identify customers and their needs and/or
preferences to serve them better
EasyJet is a UK based LCC operating a fleet of around
250 aircraft. Their CEO believes that data is the key to
their success in the industry
• Predictive maintenance partnership with Airbus to
minimize incidents and unplanned delays
• Predictive model for food to minimize wastage
• Use of data science to improve its pricing strategy,
determine optimal routes and flight times and
manage inventory
• Profits up by almost 20% per seat in 4 years
Improvements at Major
Airports
• Major airports which function like hubs
and handle heavy traffic including
connections often end up as unpleasant
experiences for passengers due to delays
and obstacles in immigration and transfers
• HBS paper: Forecasting Airport Transfer
Passenger Flow Using Real-Time Data and
Machine Learning speaks of using data
effectively to predict and arrest delays in
airports while dealing with transfers and
immigrations at London Heathrow
Airport’s Terminal 5
• Paper link
 Somnath Sinha
Thank You PGP/1119/05
IIM Bodh Gaya