Current revenue-management systems were not designed to handle vast amounts of data. Therefore, in the near future, they will not be equipped to handle today’s progression of Big Data. New technology enables airlines to manage more complex data, offering them the power to make decisions based on current rather than stale data, and resulting in increased revenue opportunities, as well as a competitive advantage.
The airline industry is dynamic. Business challenges continue to evolve for airlines, customer demands and expectations continue to increase, and competition to acquire the right passenger is intense. Not only do these factors affect the success (or failure) of an airline, but they are also the reason particular functional areas within an airline have become even more essential to achieve success.
Revenue-management systems were created so airlines could make smarter decisions about what to sell, when to sell, to whom to sell and for which price to sell. While most revenue-management solutions are able to predict the best mix of passengers to maximize revenue, certain challenges still persist, most notably, the latency of the data in the system.
We live in a hyper-connected world, where people are able to instantly consume the latest news stories, check bank accounts, get groceries delivered at home or stream a favorite television show directly on their pocket computers, whenever they want, wherever they want, at a moment’s notice. This wasn’t always the case. Advances in technology enabled these impressive capabilities, and we’ve transformed the way we go about these daily tasks as a result.
The transformation of the analyst workflow
It is unreasonable to expect any analyst to make decisions based on stale data. To overcome this challenge, a revenue-management system with real-time capabilities is needed that eliminates data lag, compiles data into one system and presents the data in an easy-to-consume format that improves analysts’ confidence in the data collected.
The ability of a revenue-management system to support a quick response to all types of changes in the marketplace — big, small, internal and external — with real-time data is likely to be a game changer for the airline industry.
