The KLM-BCG partnership, based on their shared vision of driving integrated decision making in airline operations, has developed, implemented, and marketed a suite of state-of-the-art Operations Decision Support (ODS) tools based on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and advanced optimisation techniques. These tools will maximize operational performance for Virgin Atlantic by assisting both on the day of operations and in the planning phase. To minimise the number of disrupted passengers (e.g. limiting the number of missed connections) these tools will suggest how to manage last minute events such as bad weather by combining data on available fleet, passenger travel plans, maintenance schedules, crew schedules, and gate availability. Additionally these tools will assist in creating a flight schedule that is designed to minimise delays by predicting where disruptions in the network are most likely to occur.

An in-house ODS team, consisting of business partners, data scientists, and software engineers will be set up at Virgin Atlantic. This team will be responsible for the continuous improvement of the tools in the long run as well as the development of new tools and use cases. They will act as a liaison with other key stakeholders in the operation such as crew, maintenance, and ground, to ensure the optimal cross-functional trade-offs are made.

About KLM-BCG

Founded in 2018, KLM and BCG joined forces in digitizing airline operations. The KLM-BCG partnership in digital airline operations offers a suite of tools that improve the operational performance of airlines. By combining data with today’s advanced analytics, AI and machine-learning expertise, complex operational issues are solved for airline clients across the world.

Five Dutch companies Ahold Delhaize, ING, KLM, NS and Philips aim to further boost the AI ecosystem in the Netherlands by accelerating and promoting the development of AI technology and nurturing AI talent in the country. This effort will add educational capacity, foster the development of the AI community in the Netherlands and reiterate the position of the Netherlands as a competitive and relevant global AI hub.

Joint initiative

The goal of Kickstart AI, is to bridge the AI gap between the Netherlands and other countries, like the UK, the US and China, that have made notable progress in this area. In order to keep the country’s position as a pioneer and inventor of technologies, the Dutch government, companies, organizations and universities have ground to cover in terms of structural investments and availability of global AI talent. The five companies “kickstarting” AI are, for the first time, uniting forces in this kind of joint initiative and taking highly needed decisive action.

Improve daily lives

The five companies initiating Kickstart AI are calling for the critical expansion of local knowledge and talent in order to ethically implement AI that is focused not only on what is technically possible but also meeting the ethical and social standards the Dutch society may expect. Collaboration among these five companies, the government, industry and other tech providers will help address societal challenges, provide new opportunities for the youth and accelerate the introduction of AI in the Netherlands. For consumers, AI has untapped potential to help improve their daily lives by elevating their experience with personalized service, convenience and choices in many areas of life such as food, travel, health and finances.

Initiatives under Kickstart AI include:

1. AI superchallenges: Competitions aimed at raising the Netherlands’ global profile by mobilizing global AI talent to address societal challenges for example in the areas of health and mobility.
2. Joint appointments: Investing in private-public collaboration through joint appointments of academic staff, providing access for the next generation of AI talent to education, training and leading academics. First commitment is to create 5 joint appointments to academic institutions in the Netherlands by each of the frontrunner companies in Kickstart AI, adding up to 25 positions in total.
3. Dutch national course for AI: As part of a wider effort to increase understanding and adoption of AI in the Netherlands, Kickstart AI companies will not only promote the national course for AI among the general public and their own workforces, but also offer the course in English, therewith aiming to secure sign-ups from a total of 170,000 people in the Netherlands by the end of 2020.

Urgency

Introducing Kickstart AI at the World Summit AI today, Maarten de Rijke, Professor at the University of Amsterdam and Director of the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence, said: “The Netherlands has always been a technology pioneer, a frontrunner in AI development and innovation. The quality of our AI specialists is well-acknowledged worldwide. However, without a national AI strategy and swift action, the severe shortage of AI talent in our country remains one of the biggest roadblocks to realizing the full potential of AI talent and technology. The joint efforts between universities and companies, as part of Kickstart AI, underlines the urgency in accelerating AI education and talent retention and signals our commitment to collaboration and investments needed to accelerate AI innovation in the Netherlands.”

Game-changing potential

Ahold Delhaize, ING, KLM, NS and Philips are connected to the daily lives of millions of people through food, travel, health and finances. As organizations that are close to the lives of everyday Dutch society, they fully understand the game-changing potential for AI to improve everyday life in the Netherlands. This is why they have joined together in a call for action to their business and industry peers, to boost collaboration in creating a thriving AI ecosystem in the Netherlands for the benefit of end-consumers’ daily lives. The Strategic Action Plan AI (SAPAI) and the Netherlands’ AI Coalition, also announced this week, are complementary steps in the same direction and designed to collectively sustain the growth and competitiveness of the Dutch economy.

Travel guide

The first new service will help you find a suitable travel destination based on the flight duration, budget, travel date, and travel theme you want. Based on a short dialogue, KLM offers customers three suitable destinations, including a brief description of each one. Following that, customers immediately receive the current ticket prices via a link on their mobile phones.

Departure planner

Using the second new service, KLM tells customers at what time they have to be at Schiphol before departure. This uses a technical connection to Schiphol’s systems (API). The departure planner also advises customers about what time they should leave home, whether by car or public transport.

Searching for flights and help with packing

One of the existing KLM voice services on Google Home helps customers search for and book flights. Furthermore, KLM already provides its customers with personal advice about how to pack their baggage based on their destination, trip duration, and the local weather forecast.

This cooperation marks the first time a leading aviation company has joined forces with a top tier consultancy to bring to market a new service—a jointly developed artificial intelligence-based system of integrated solutions and tailored, proven tools.

Over the past 18 months, KLM and BCG have joined forces behind the common belief that operating as a cost center and serving a purely executional role must be considered a thing of the past. In an increasingly complex and busy environment, the reliability of an airline’s operations is a growing competitive advantage. KLM has the ambition to remain a frontrunner.

Deploying common teams made up of employees of KLM Operations Decision Support and Operations frontline staff, BCG's Airline practice, and members of BCG Gamma (an AI & Advanced Analytics entity of over 450 world-class data scientists, data engineers, and software developers), this KLM-BCG partnership has developed a state of the art solution based on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced optimization that addresses all elements of airline operations.

With these tools, airlines will be able to tackle the most complex decisions pertaining to fleet, crew, ground services, and network, with a focus on breaking down the typical siloes across these departments, whether it concerns long-term strategic questions or disruption management optimization on the day of operations. This requires a deep understanding and optimization of tradeoffs across cost, operational performance, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. With the first set of successful solutions already operational at KLM, both KLM and BCG are ready to launch this service to the aviation industry worldwide.

About KLM
For 98 years, KLM has been a pioneer in the airline industry and is the oldest airline to still be operating under its original name. KLM aims to be the most customer-focused, innovative, and efficient airline in Europe, offering reliable service and top-quality products.

KLM carried a record 32.7 million passengers in 2017, offering its passengers direct flights to 165 destinations with a modern fleet of more than 160 aircraft. The airline employs a workforce of more 32,000 people worldwide. The KLM Group as a whole transported more than 41 million passengers in 2017. In addition to KLM, the KLM Group includes KLM Cityhopper, Transavia, and Martinair. The KLM network connects the Netherlands with all of the world’s key economic regions, and is a powerful engine driving the Netherlands’ economy.

For more information about KLM, please visit KLM.com, KLM Newsroom, Facebook, Twitter and the KLM Blog.

About The Boston Consulting Group
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.

About KLM and Social Media

Since 2009, KLM has gained a reputation for being a pioneer in the field of social media services and campaigns. KLM has over 25 million fans and followers on various social media platforms. Through these channels, KLM receives over 100,000 mentions every week, 16,000 of which are questions or remarks. These are personally answered by more than 250 service agents, who form the world’s largest, dedicated social media team. On WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, WeChat and KakaoTalk, KLM offers its customers a 24/7 one-stop-shop in nine different languages: Dutch, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. During office hours, KLM also offers services in Italian. KLM was the world’s first airline to offer customers the option of receiving flight documents and status updates via WhatsApp, Messenger and Twitter, and the first Western airline to offer this via WeChat.

bb.klm.com