KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently announced the extension of their partnership, which was officially established in 2018. The parties involved were the first to market a set of tools for integrated planning and management of airline operations. KLM and BCG's approach to optimizing aviation operations as a whole, across time periods and across multiple departments, uses a tailored set of digital tools, combined with business transformation capabilities to ensure the tools are used daily by frontline personnel in business operations , the crew and the hub control.
"Thanks to the existing set of tools and the in-house capabilities that we have built up in recent years, KLM was able to derive a lot of value from its Operations Decision Support set of tools in 2020, just like in the years before. Our collaboration with BCG is one of the building blocks to realize our ambition to become the world's leading data and technology-driven airline. I am delighted to be extending this unique partnership."
Utilizing machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced optimization techniques, these latest digital solutions help users make complex decisions that optimize fleet, crew, ground services and network deployments and deliver the best customer experience to passengers. To deliver results in just a few months and to avoid the airlines being locked into a mandatory platform solution, these solutions do not require the replacement of the critical systems and are handed over to the IT teams of the airlines themselves. These teams are also involved in the process from the start.
“We are building industry-leading digital capabilities to support our operations. The collaboration with KLM-BCG has been instrumental in accelerating this development in terms of technology, processes and implementation. We are excited to continue this journey and partnership with the KLM-BCG partnership to ensure we continue to deliver world-class operational performance for our passengers, in good times and bad.”
Proven results
These solutions have improved KLM's operational metrics – such as the number of flights delayed by more than 30 minutes or the number of missed connections for passengers – by up to 40% and helped increase KLM's Net Promoter Score (NPS) from 38 in 2015 to 41 in 2019. During the COVID-19 crisis, these tools and capabilities have made KLM and other international airlines more agile, despite unprecedented market and operational volatiles.
For example, by adapting existing fleet allocation decision tools with the most recent passenger data, KLM succeeded in reducing CO2emissions per passenger kilometer within its European network by 3%. Over the past three years, the partnership between KLM and BCG has also deployed tailor-made solutions to other leading airlines worldwide. After welcoming Delta Air Lines as its first-ever customer, the partnership's customer base has expanded to include several airlines in Latin America, Europe and Asia — both within the SkyTeam alliance and beyond, such as GOL and Virgin Atlantic. KLM.
“We are delighted to be able to continue this unique partnership with KLM. In recent years, thanks to our complementary experience and our mutual track record of innovation, our partnership has grown stronger and proved very successful in the market. Together, we look forward to continuing to provide airlines around the world with innovative tools that will help them emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.”