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Imagine losing £290,000 because there was no toilet paper on your plane. Sounds outrageous, right? But it actually happened.
In 2017, British Airways flight delayed due to lack of toilet paper cost the carrier £290,000.
Small mistakes can cost a lost.
You could avoid some of this (quite a lot, actually) of these mistakes by implementing business rules engines to:
- optimize and partially automate complex decision-making processes,
- schedule and predict aircraft maintenance to identify issues, potential repairs
- reduce or eliminate operational efficiencies that drain billions of dollars from airline industry each year.
How? Let us show you.
Challenges for the airline industry
The aviation supply chain remains under significant strain, with aircraft deliveries in 2024 falling 30% short of projections at 1,254 units, exacerbating a backlog of 17,000 undelivered planes.
This shortfall has increased the average fleet age to a record 14.8 years, raising maintenance costs by 18% year-over-year and fuel consumption by 12% due to older, less efficient engines.
Fuel constitutes 25–35% of airline operating expenses, and price volatility remains a critical concern. In 2024, fuel accounted for 28.9% of operating costs. Smaller carriers, particularly ultra-low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier, face heightened pressure as labor consumes 35–40% of their operating budgets, compared to 25% for legacy carriers.
Engine manufacturers, particularly affected by supplier bankruptcies during the pandemic, struggle to meet demand, leaving approximately 700 aircraft globally grounded for engine inspections as of December 2024.
Labor expenses have surged due to post-pandemic wage inflation and union negotiations. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that labor costs are expected to grow by 7.6% in 2024, reaching $214 billion.
In 2022 alone, airlines sustained losses totaling $45 billion due to various operational issues.
Finally, decision-making. Approximately 75% of tactical decision errors in aircraft accidents represent plan-continuation errors. This "go" mentality in "no-go" situations frequently occurs in ambiguous circumstances.
The role of business rules engines in airlines operations
The aviation industry gets more complex by the day. The global airline industry is projected to serve approximately 5.2 billion passengers in 2025, up from 4.4 billion in 2023. In 2023, the number of flights operated globally reached around 35.7 million, with expectations to rise to 40 million by 2025.
Flight delays are costing airlines $24 billion in lost revenue.
These systems change how you make operational decisions. They replace manual processes with automated rule execution. You get consistent application of business policy across your entire organization. The algorithms process thousands of variables simultaneously - something human operators can’t do with the same speed or accuracy.
BREs execute 100,000 rules in seconds, so you can respond in real-time to market changes, operational disruptions and emerging opportunities.
Supply chain optimization in aviation
The current supply chain crisis has created severe operational constraints. With aircraft deliveries falling 30% short of projections and a massive backlog of 17,000 undelivered planes, airlines struggle to manage their aging fleets.
Business rules engines execute business rules that automatically analyze supply chain data and prioritize critical maintenance needs. You'll find these systems particularly useful when managing parts inventory for older aircraft, which now average 14.8 years in service.
Higson exemplifies this approach. The platform connects to your parts inventory systems and uses artificial intelligence to predict maintenance requirements before they become critical. This predictive capability reduces unexpected maintenance events by up to 30% and extends component lifespan.
A major European airline implemented this solution and cut parts-related delays by 23%. The system constantly evaluates real-time data from thousands of components and automatically triggers procurement processes when specific thresholds are met.
Managing aging fleet challenges
Your aging fleet creates two major problems: 18% higher maintenance costs and 12% increased fuel consumption. Business rules engines address both issues through targeted automation.
These engines analyze flight data to identify efficiency patterns. They detect when an aircraft burns excessive fuel or requires unusual maintenance. The business logic within these systems then recommends specific maintenance interventions or operational changes.
Rather than relying on standard maintenance schedules, the rules engine creates tailored approaches for each aircraft based on its actual performance data. This shift from calendar-based to condition-based maintenance saves significant resources.
Delta Airlines applied this approach to their fleet and reduced unscheduled maintenance by 20%, saving up to $50 million annually. The system's complex decision-making processes evaluate thousands of data points from each flight to identify patterns invisible to human analysts. Delta has achieved a success rate of over 95% for pending failure predictions through their predictive maintenance program.
Fuel cost management automation
With fuel representing 28.9% of operating costs in 2024, even small efficiency improvements deliver substantial financial benefits. Business rules engines transform your approach to fuel management through automated decision frameworks.
These systems integrate with flight operations to optimize routes, speeds, and altitudes based on real-time conditions. The rules engine continuously evaluates weather patterns, aircraft weight, and dozens of other variables to recommend fuel-saving adjustments.
By optimizing flight paths and using high altitudes for fuel efficiency, Southwest Airlines saved 6.6 million gallons in 2022. Their comprehensive decision automation platform evaluates thousands of flights daily and makes micro-adjustments that accumulate into significant savings.
The system also manages fuel hedging strategies by automating complex risk assessment models. This provides protection against price volatility through rule-based purchasing decisions that respond to market changes faster than manual processes.
Labor cost optimization
Labor expenses have grown 7.6% in 2024, creating additional financial pressure. Business rules engines optimize workforce deployment through sophisticated scheduling algorithms. These systems process complex contractual requirements and regulatory constraints to create efficient staffing plans.
The rules engine uses natural language processing to interpret union contracts and company policies. This automated interpretation ensures compliance while identifying optimization opportunities that human schedulers might miss.
Digital transformation of maintenance operations
With approximately 700 aircraft grounded globally for engine inspections, efficient maintenance planning has become critical. Business rules engines coordinate complex maintenance workflows and optimize limited resources.
These engines replace legacy systems that rely on manual scheduling and paper-based processes. The transformation incorporates predictive maintenance algorithms that identify potential failures before they occur.
United Airlines implemented a rules-based maintenance platform that reduced maintenance-related cancellations by 30%. The system's complex systems capable of analyzing thousands of sensor readings now automatically prioritize maintenance tasks based on operational impact and resource availability.
The integration with existing maintenance systems creates a seamless workflow that eliminates information silos. Maintenance planners now access comprehensive dashboards showing exactly which aircraft require attention and when.
Customer satisfaction through disruption management
When operations face disruption, business rules engines help you maintain customer satisfaction through automated recovery processes. These systems evaluate thousands of rebooking options in seconds and implement optimal solutions.
The rules engine considers passenger status, connection requirements, and available capacity across your network. It then executes business rules that prioritize solutions based on minimizing passenger inconvenience while managing operational constraints.
Regulatory compliance automation
Aviation operates under strict regulatory oversight that creates substantial compliance burdens. Business rules engines automate compliance processes through continuously updated rule repositories.
These systems manage rules related to flight operations, maintenance requirements, and crew qualifications. When regulations change, you update the central rule repository rather than modifying multiple systems across your organization.
This approach reduces compliance risk while minimizing the administrative burden on operational teams. The system automatically flags potential compliance issues before they impact operations.
The business rules engine adapts as regulations evolve, ensuring continuous compliance without extensive system modifications. This flexibility proves especially valuable in an industry where regulatory requirements change frequently.
Benefits of business rules engines in airline operations
Improved predictive maintenance
Business rules engines form a key component in hybrid predictive maintenance approaches that combine traditional rule-based decision-making with advanced AI/ML capabilities. This hybrid approach has demonstrated superior performance compared to standalone methods, achieving:
- 95% fault detection accuracy
- 96% predictive maintenance effectiveness
- 92% operational downtime reduction
- 90% cost optimization.
Lufthansa and its maintenance arm Lufthansa Technik use their Aviatar platform for predictive maintenance, which has helped reduce unscheduled component removals by up to 30%. They've developed predictors for various aircraft systems including bleed and pneumatic systems on A320neo, 737 APU and hydraulic systems.
BRE's partially automate decision-making processes
Airlines that master operational tradeoffs can deliver margin improvement of 5% to 10%. Some carriers implementing new systems that have resulted in 14-15 percentage-point improvements in on-time performance6.
Revenue growth
The system monitors competitor pricing, search trends and booking patterns continuously. These insights allow dynamic pricing throughout the booking cycle.
A major global airline implemented rule-based systems as part of their willingness-to-pay forecasting and optimization, generating an additional $1.5 million in fare revenue from just six routes, representing a 4.7% revenue increase in test markets.
Rules-based systems are particularly effective for ancillary revenue optimization. Airlines that effectively leverage ancillary sales (at least $20 per passenger) generate 8.2% ROIC on average, which is more than five percentage points higher than airlines whose passengers spend less than $5 on ancillaries.
One airline implemented an automated upgrade bidding process that applied business rules to optimize bid acceptance, generating an additional $0.06 per passenger flown and producing $92K in revenue in just one month. This automation also saved 208 analyst hours annually (approximately 66% reduction in manual effort) while improving revenue performance.
The use of advanced analytics and machine learning to predict passenger preferences has been shown to increase conversion rates for ancillary services by 20-30%. The rules engine finds opportunities based on passenger history, route characteristics and current promotions.
Operational efficiency
Operational inefficiencies are costing carriers about $1.7 billion in revenue annually.
One case study showed that optimized scheduling could reduce soft-rule violations to less than 20% of the number in reference schedules, representing an 80% reduction in violations against scheduling guidelines. The same study demonstrated a 59% reduction in duties planned without adequate rest margin, which directly impacts operational efficiency and helps prevent delay propagation.
The system ensures compliance with complex regulatory requirements without manual intervention. Rest periods, qualifications and crew pairing rules apply automatically to scheduling decisions.
What's more, any changes can be applied almost in an instant, even if it means complex business rules, because smooth and intuitive business rules management system allows business users without IT expertise to implement changes without relying on developers.
Customer experience enhancement
Passengers get instant rebooking options aligned with their preferences. No more long wait times at the service center during irregular ops. SWISS International Airlines' automated rebooking system can complete the entire rebooking process in about 3 minutes, with passengers simply receiving SMS confirmations of their new flights.
BRE's allow you to personalize offers on the go. 76% of customers said personalized messages were essential in enhancing their consideration of a brand, and 78% said such communication made them more willing to repurchase. 80% of frequent shoppers say they only purchase from businesses that personalize their experience.
Connect with us today
Transform your operations with our tailored solutions. Share your specific challenges with us, and we'll customize our approach to match your exact requirements.
Your experiences matter. When you tell us about your use case, we gain insights that help us provide you with targeted support that addresses your actual problems.
Take action now to boost your operational efficiency. Contact our team to begin a partnership that delivers measurable results for both parties.
