Transforming Airline Operations with Offer and Order Management System  

Background

The aviation industry is currently experiencing several key trends that are reshaping its landscape. Firstly, there’s a shift from indirect sales models, which restrict personalized offers, to advanced Offer and Order Management Systems. These systems empower airlines to create and distribute tailored offers, enhancing customer experiences. Secondly, the industry is moving towards greater customer-centricity and extensive merchandising. This transition involves replacing legacy systems and processes, such as PSS and conventional payment methods, with more efficient solutions. Lastly, the introduction of the NDC standard by IATA is enhancing communication between airlines and travel agents, allowing seamless integration by any third party.  

These industry tendencies and making its key players seek ways to modernize and align with them. 

Challenges

As the client sought our expertise, several key points needed to be considered before the project could commence: 

• The primary concern for modernization was the legacy Passenger Service System (PSS), which, despite being stable, was not flexible enough to hold essential business logic built on complex dependencies. The team had to ensure this logic was maintained while developing a scalable implementation for the Offer & Order Management System (OOMS). 

• Implementation of New Distribution Capability (NDC) which entailed:  
  • Understanding the NDC schema and mapping it to internal data structures, ensuring efficient communication between Offer and Order Managment System and the NDC APIs. 
  • Ensuring current PSS compatibility with the NDC schema. 
  • Continuous updates to the NDC implementation based on industry standard upgrades. 

• Tight release schedule which was agreed upon with the end customer. Given the complex setup on the customer’s side, the Symphony Solutions team had to adhere to this schedule and ensure timely delivery regardless of challenges. 

• Each OOMS release posed a risk of performance degradation in the client’s legacy system, which had to be meticulously managed. 

• A significant amount of both existing and new functionality required thorough testing and verification within a short timeframe, necessitating efficient and effective testing strategies. 

Solution

The client requested a comprehensive program of changes, organized into distinct streams, each containing a list of functionalities. Each change request was meticulously documented in the solution document, detailing implementation specifics, expected outcomes, and requiring customer sign-off. The solution designs were carefully crafted to mitigate performance risks, ensuring scalability and stability for future needs. The functionalities were then confirmed and scheduled for release. 

At the same time, the team devised a testing strategy encompassing manual, automated, and performance testing. Each release was accompanied by detailed documentation covering the setup, included functionalities, and test reports. 

To ensure quality and timely delivery, the Symphony team adhered to the Scrum methodology throughout the project. Based on the client’s requirements, our team focused on the following key areas: 

• Transfer of custom business logic from the local PSS and UI into the Offer & Order Management System. This has involved more than five releases of functionality, with further implementations still ongoing. 

• Integration of third-party services to enhance offer personalization and increase sales from merchandising by integrating third-party services. Two third-party service providers have been successfully integrated, with additional integrations in progress. 

• Implementation of New Distribution Capability (NDC): 
  • Development of a compatibility layer to ensure smooth communication between the platform and NDC APIs. 
  • Utilization of middleware for protocol translations and data transformations. 
  • Implementation of NDC for standard booking and manage my booking flows, successfully going live with NDC.

As the project progresses, functionality continues to be enhanced, and new work is being planned for subsequent phases. 

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Result

The Symphony Solutions team delivered significant improvements, successfully navigating the challenges posed by legacy systems, tight schedules, and complex requirements. The client is undergoing a transformation and migration to the Offer & Order Management System (OOMS), resulting in a more robust, scalable, and customer-centric system. The current list of outcomes includes: 

• Successfully implemented comprehensive solutions while addressing legacy system constraints and performance risks. 

• Conducted thorough testing and quality assurance, efficiently handling extensive testing requirements. 

• Maintained strict adherence to the Agile methodology, effectively managing tight release schedules. 

• Key functionalities delivered: 
  • Transfer of custom business logic. 
  • Multiple functionality releases. 
  • Integration of third-party services. 
  • Adoption of the IATA NDC Standard. 

• Facilitated the transition to modern systems, significantly enhancing personalization and merchandising capabilities.