Lufthansa welcomes Google Cloud aboard to minimize flight disruptions

A new strategic partnership between Lufthansa Group and Google Cloud will further improve the carrier’s operational performance and minimize the impact of irregularities on its passengers, from flight delays to extreme weather conditions.

According to Lufthansa, the aim of the partnership is to build a platform that will suggest scenarios to return to a stable flight plan, in the event of an irregularity, so that passengers still arrive at their destinations as punctually and comfortably as possible. This will be achieved by merging data from various processes that are relevant for stable operations (for example aircraft replacement and maintenance, as well as crew scheduling), Lufthansa said.

A joint team of operations experts, developers and engineers from the Lufthansa Group and software engineers from Google Cloud will be developing and testing the appropriate platform. The test launch will take place in Zurich with SWISS.

READ MORE: Lufthansa fills CEO, CFO positions for 2020

“By combining Google Cloud's technology with Lufthansa Group’s operational expertise, we are driving the digitization of our operation even further," said Dr. Detlef Kayser, member of the Executive Board of the Lufthansa Group. "This will enable us to identify possible flight irregularities even earlier and implement counter-measures at an early stage."

For example, in the event of missed flights due to weather conditions, it will be possible to offer faster rebooking possibilities across all four hubs for Lufthansa Group passengers due to systems based on artificial intelligence.

“Through this collaboration, we have a significant opportunity to revolutionize the future of airline operations,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO for Google Cloud. “We’re bringing the best of Lufthansa Group and Google Cloud together to solve airlines’ biggest challenges and positively impact the travel experience of the more than 145 million passengers that fly annually with them.”

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