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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Overview

Recommendation

COVID-19 was bad for the airline industry, but every adversity comes with hidden opportunities – or so the motivational posters would have you believe. So what opportunities for improvement has COVID-19 highlighted? Look no further than your favorite airline’s scheduling and network planning departments. They weren’t operating efficiently enough even before the virus took hold; the pandemic just made inefficiencies impossible to ignore. In this special report from the Boston Consulting Group, you’ll find a blueprint for more dexterous, flexible schedule and network planning.

Take-Aways

  • Airline scheduling and network planning departments need to prepare for a future of volatile sales, near-term bookings and staffing difficulties.
  • Data scientists and software engineers will be central to overcoming scheduling challenges.
  • An airline can still create a schedule a year in advance, but that schedule will evolve – perhaps radically – as data reveals market shifts.

About the Authors

Olivier Bouffault, Dirk-Maarten Molenaar, Fernando Bosch, Martin Fink and Julien Lardet-Maurin are professionals with the Boston Consulting Group.