Airline Scheduling Technology Modernization
Industry
Airline
Services
Strategy & Planning, Tech Modernization
Defining a buy vs. build strategy for a leading Fortune 500 airline that needed to modernize a legacy system responsible for managing crew member scheduling.
Opportunity
The capability to respond to disruptions and ensure pilots and flight attendants are legally and safely able to cover a flight are critical to operating a healthy and industry-leading airline.
Determining whether to modernize these systems via in-house development or through a vendor solution was becoming a growing challenge.
Outcome
Executive Alignment
Enabled clear executive alignment and reduced time to decision by ~6 months through clear strategic objectives and data-driven analysis.
Timeline Reduction
Developed an implementation roadmap for the client to pursue an internal build path reducing their development timeline from five years to two.
Outcome Tracking
Provided objectives and key results (OKRs) for the client to measure outcomes as implementation progresses.
Approach
There were many dynamics involved and key considerations such as functional capabilities, departmental alignment, and architectural and technological requirements needed to be evaluated through a fair and unbiased process. The outcome of this assessment would lead to tens of millions of dollars of financial investment and long-term value for the company.
As a trusted advisor and independent voice, Two Roads was asked to lead a comprehensive “buy vs. build” assessment to accelerate what could have been a drawn-out RFP process. To drive early alignment and accelerate decision-making, Two Roads started with strategic discovery to understand key assessment criteria.
Clear goals and objectives led to targeted research to understand current system strengths and pain points and partner with the client on potential vendor options. Adding a data-driven approach to research, deep dives, and demos, helped increase velocity and create early clarity around tradeoffs between options.
After multi-day demos, scoring of 100+ scenarios, and extensive analysis, Two Roads provided strategic counsel that led to clear executive alignment and an accelerated decision process that avoided a lengthy and costly RFP.
Authors
