KLM Royal Dutch Airlines : & BCG Extend Partnership for Digital Airline Operations

KLM and BCG's approach to optimizing airline operations as a whole and at the same time, across time horizons and departmental silos, leverages a custom-built suite of digital tools paired with business transformation capabilities to ensure the tools are used daily by frontline staff in operations, crew, and hub control. Using machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced optimization techniques, the state-of-the-art digital solutions help the users optimize complex decisions relating to fleet, crew, ground services, and network, and deliver the best customer experience to passengers. To achieve results in just a few months and to avoid the need to commit to a platform solution that locks airlines in, these solutions don't require replacing any core systems. The airlines' IT teams are included in the journey from the start, and eventually all systems are handed over to those teams.

Proven Results

These solutions have improved KLM's operational metrics across the board, such as the number of flights delayed more than 30 minutes or missed passenger connections by up to 40%, and have supported the increase in KLM's Net Promoter Score (NPS) from 38 in 2015 to 41 in 2019.

During the COVID-19 crisis, these tools and capabilities enabled KLM and other global airlines tobe more nimble in the face of unprecedented volatility in the market and operations. For example,by adapting existing tools to support fleet allocation decisions based on latest passenger data, KLM achieved a 3% reduction in CO2 emission per passenger kilometer within its European Network.

In the past three years, the KLM-BCG partnership has also deployed its tailored solutions at leading carriers globally. After Delta Air Lines (the inaugural customer), the partnership expanded its customer base to several airlines across Latin America, Europe, and Asia, within the SkyTeam Alliance and beyond (e.g., GOL and Virgin Atlantic).