Lufthansa Systems announced that it offers a new cutting-edge AI-powered operations control assistant for the airline industry. NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC is a web-based AI assistant that supports airline operations controllers in increasing the stability and efficiency of daily operations. The solution is already in use and jointly optimized with the first customers.
“AI is the next step in the technological evolution. So, early adoption is crucial for airlines,” said Jan-Peter Gaense, Head of NetLine solutions at Lufthansa Systems. “But we see that besides technical proficiency, the key factor for successful AI support is the user’s trust. Our smart assistant supports operations controllers in their challenging work, not replacing them.”
Operations controllers make numerous complex decisions every day. They react to unforeseen events like weather or strikes to minimize their impact as such disruptions can cause high costs for the airline. The operations controller has to analyze several information sources within minutes to find the best solution. That becomes more challenging, especially during peak times with a high risk of disruption.
This is exactly where NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC comes into play: The system analyzes historical data and monitors all events around aircraft, rotation, passengers, and crews simultaneously to identify delay risks ahead of time. Then, it generates concrete recommendations on how to improve operations in real time, which is critical in this working environment. To enable the user to make an informed decision, the system provides additional information regarding the impact of the proposed solution on the overall resilience, the buffer, and the propagated delay. The smart assistant focuses on recommendations, and the decision itself always remains with the operations controller.
NetLine/Ops ++ is Lufthansa Systems’ next-generation operation control system. By collecting and evaluating a wide range of data, such as critical weather conditions or technical aircraft limitations, NetLine/Ops ++ alerts the operations controllers about potentially critical situations so they can quickly initiate measures to prevent and resolve disruptions.
NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC is based on Reinforcement Learning. This cutting-edge machine learning methodology is used to extract cause and effect from data and provide data-driven decision support. “Our AI agent learns to act optimally regarding a given goal. It is not predictive but prescriptive, meaning that it doesn’t tell the operations controller what will happen, but it shows what to do to reach the set goal,” explained László Kovács, Product Owner NetLine/Ops ++ aiOCC at Lufthansa Systems.
