Data-driven Process Optimization in the Aviation Industry

In this dynamic world of changing customer expectations, economic instability due to geopolitical unrest, resource scarcity and volatility as well as climate change, the aviation industry faces new challenges. The sector is not only contending with these global issues but is also witnessing the emergence of innovative business models due to global interconnectedness and travel demand. This transformation is reshaping urban transportation, with new players entering the commercial air mobility market. Strategies such as personalized routes and offerings around regional airports and understanding passengers to offer relevant multimodal options are gaining significance. In addition to these changes, the aviation industry is confronted with the following trends and needs:

• Transition to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
• Impact of environmental activism
• Escalating fuel prices
• Increasing demand for cyber security
• Constant need for fleet modernization
• Establishment of No-Flight Zones

Faced with these and other underlying factors, companies need to improve their operational excellence, focus on sustainable operations, and make cost reduction a top priority. Data-driven process mining is the ideal approach to address these challenges and needs in aviation and logistics, as well as countless other industries where complexities and interdependencies define day-to-day operations. 

How can process mining help you meet these challenges and transform your business model?

The robust methodology of process mining connects data science with process science, merging the event data generated by modern IT systems with advanced process models. We use today’s process mining applications for process discovery, analysis and modeling, for conformance checking (actual vs. target process) and finally for business process optimization. Much like an x-ray for business processes, process mining gives companies an objective view of exactly what is going on in their process landscape. Furthermore, it garners insights, builds analytical models, ensures compliance, and optimizes business processes, to effectively address the industry's diverse challenges including post-pandemic volatility, rising customer expectations, and cost-reducing imperatives. Process mining can help aviation companies find solutions and develop new strategies, whether that is improving operational efficiency and sustainability efforts, managing staff shortages, or solving supply bottlenecks in the areas of aircraft acquisition as well as maintenance, repair, and overhaul.

A sample OCPM set-up displaying the interrelations and interactions of commercial core processes (P2P, AP, O2C, AR, etc.), highlighted in different colors

Graphic: Internal Deloitte Celonis Sandbox

Thanks to its data-driven approach, process mining can help companies optimize complex and interrelated processes. This makes it predestined for the aviation and logistics industries, where complexity and interdependencies dominate day-to-day business.

Our point of view "Data-driven Process Optimization with Process Mining" will provide you with a comprehensive overview of current challenges and trends in the aviation industry, a first understanding of process mining technology and how Deloitte’s „Data-driven Process Optimization” approach offers potential solutions. We will demonstrate the ways data and process science can unlock synergies and overcome key aviation industry challenges. Finally, we will outline new features in the process mining pipeline, from artificial intelligence and machine learning to robotic process automation.