Consulting Services
Our consultants offer a full range of consulting services for airlines and airports of all sizes. By leveraging our pacesetting software products, technology and data, our experienced industry professionals introduce your company to best practices – helping improve its profit position. Our deep industry knowledge and proven practices help your company reach its performance targets. Our consultants have worked for airlines and airports in professional and executive capacities — they understand the dynamics of your business and their implications on strategic decisions.
Using best practice techniques designed to address organizational challenges, regardless of size or business model, our consultants can provide results-oriented solutions ranging from carefully crafted strategic alternatives to improving commercial or operational results.
Our customers consistently rate us as better when compared to other management consulting firms.
The consulting services described next can help a company achieve its desired business goals.
Management Consulting
Our team can help improve a customer’s overall business and financial performance by identifying and implementing corporate, commercial, network, product and operations strategies appropriate to its unique environment. Our consultants assist with the development and implementation of business plans — ranging from improved commercial performance to streamlining operational processes – designed to produce results in today’s challenging economic and competitive landscape.
Airline Planning and Scheduling
Coupling our deep expertise in network planning, fleet planning, flight scheduling and market assessment with the leading-edge Sabre® AirFlite™ Planning and Scheduling Suite, our team can significantly improve an airline’s resource management, competitiveness and profitability. Our consultants use progressive forecasting techniques to develop scenarios, enabling an airline to make informed decisions about its future course of action. Our consultants also evaluate current and future schedule performance, profitability and new routes; analyze fleet composition; and perform complex alliance analysis to support an airline’s strategic and tactical decision making.
Consulting customers can expect a profit increase of up to 4% through schedule and network efficiencies.
Pricing and Revenue Management
With access to the Sabre Airline Solutions portfolio of decision-support tools, our pricing and revenue management consultants can help an airline maximize revenue by introducing proven industry best practices. Our consultants work alongside an airline’s staff to implement these policies and practices to ensure that each flight and route delivers the highest profit margin possible.
Our consultants have performed pricing and revenue management business audits and introduced improved practices and measures at dozens of airlines. Because of these experiences, our subject-matter experts are able to quickly identify obstacles to overall performance and employee productivity, and recommend quick-hit solutions a carrier can easily implement. Most of our clients begin seeing measurable results during the consulting engagement.
Implemented at airlines of various sizes and with differing route structures, our processes have produced yield and unit revenue improvements of up to 8%.
Airline Operations
Our team offers operational consulting services in the areas of crew planning and scheduling, on-time performance, maintenance and engineering, ground operations, catering, fuel, and safety. Our consultants have extensive experience in developing operations control centers that integrate the efforts of various departments such as dispatch, operations, and crew tracking and scheduling. Other services available include conducting an independent assessment of an airline’s operations, from flight and security to staffing and materials management. Our review of an airline’s existing maintenance program often results in a revised program that captures optimal use of its resources.
A recent crew management engagement saved a Latin American carrier 1.7% in annual operation costs. A consulting fuel operations assessment, including budgeting, purchasing, hedging and usage planning, saved a carrier 5% in annual fuel operations costs.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing consulting services focus on an airline’s sales and distribution, which include best practices for reservation services. Our team also offers assistance with the development and management of traveler loyalty and customer relationship management programs. Our consultants can assist an airline with numerous initiatives, such as developing cost-effective distribution channels, transitioning to the SabreSonic™ Passenger Solutions, deploying a state-of-the-industry CRM program and improving sales and marketing effectiveness, to name a few. All of which target ways to generate revenue and cut costs — improving an airline’s overall profit position.
Sales and distribution strategy consulting customers have seen revenue increases up to 20%. Reservations and distribution control customers have realized a potential 11% annual savings, with 50% achieved within two months of completing the consulting engagement.
Turnaround Consulting
Our airline turnaround service is designed to improve an airline’s business and operational processes, moving it from a loss position to a growth and profitability position. Our typical engagements include airline operations, network planning, sales and marketing strategy, pricing and revenue management, and reservations and distribution control. Our work can improve operational integrity and service levels by increasing the effectiveness of an airline’s departmental communication and processes.
A carrier that works with our consultants can expect to improve its operating revenue by up to 10%.Start-up Assistance
Our team offers a full range of support services — from assessing the viability of a start-up carrier to assistance with the certification process necessary to gain approval to launch an airline’s operations. Our consultants work with the client to create an effective organizational structure, capable of getting the new carrier off the ground. By employing our broad industry reach, our consultants interview and assess client personnel and recommend the key positions required for start-up certification.
Product Implementation Services
Redesigning business processes and organizational effectiveness go hand-in-hand with the implementation of any new IT software product. Our airline industry experts work with the client’s team from the initial stage of product acquisition through product implementation, enabling the client to derive optimal return on investment by having best practices and processes in place to support the new product effectively.
Additionally, using a Build Operate Transfer model, our consultants can leverage Sabre Airline Solutions’ extensive knowledge of decision-support tools and delivery methodology so the customer can quickly realize the benefits of a fully functioning staff. This is ideal for many small and mid-size carriers that purchase our software but do not have the time or resources to create a department and build their knowledge and experience. The consultants sit side by side with the client’s staff, transferring their knowledge and experience to managers and product users. This model brings immediate benefits to an airline’s organization, while its staff gets up to speed quickly.
Airport Consulting
Our consultants provide data services to airports, manufacturers and governments around the world. With access to a wide range of data resources, they can conduct in-depth analyses such as airport leakage studies, traffic flow mapping and passenger booking pattern evalu ation, as well as develop fare files and market sizes used for forecasting and analysis. Drawing on years of airline planning experience, typically in scheduling and route planning functions, our consultants understand how airline planners think and use the same tools they do in making decisions. In addition, because of Sabre Airline Solutions’ dominant GDS position, our consultants have access to the best travel information in the industry. More important, when managing projects, our consultants walk the client through the process and provide update reports for quick decision making. Quite simply, our services are designed to help airport leaders understand and develop air service and improve their overall revenue position.
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