Lufthansa – IA & RPA in the Aviation Industry

Millions of passengers around the world trust Lufthansa to help them reach their destination safely. But being Germany’s largest airline came with a new set of challenges during COVID-19. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of customers needed to urgently alter or cancel flights. So how did Lufthansa InTouch, the airline’s customer service and operational solutions provider, safely navigate the unexpected influx of cancellations? With solid support from partner, NEOOPS, they leaned on a Blue Prism digital workforce.

Challenge

As the COVID-19 pandemic made its way around the world, it brought with it an unprecedented set of business challenges. And while no industry was spared, few were hit as hard as aviation. In times of crisis, operating at scale can be a distinct advantage. However, for Lufthansa this only exacerbated their problem. Without warning, Lufthansa’s support and operations subsidiary Lufthansa InTouch was overwhelmed by requests to alter or cancel flights. Add to this the prevailing political pressure that companies should quickly “make good” by their customers to aid in the response to COVID-19, and Lufthansa suddenly had a major challenge on its hands.

Solution

Lufthansa InTouch was facing a critical challenge and they needed a solution quickly. Having used intelligent automation before, the company turned to partner, NEOOPS, who had demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing automation solutions. Working collaboratively and at speed, Lufthansa InTouch, NEOOPS and Blue Prism then created a custom solution. Six new digital workers were quickly dispatched to help Lufthansa InTouch deal with its ever-growing backlog of customer requests. Working 24/7, the digital workforce has since facilitated the processing of over 100,000 customer transactions, including alterations, cancellations, and refunds. Digital and human workers seamlessly pass work back and forth, quickly resolving ticketing transactions, either refunding the customers money or rebooking the flight. The speed of its response gave Lufthansa’s customers much-needed reassurance at a stressful time.

Lufthansa InTouch has seen the power of Blue Prism to quickly scale and respond to a crisis, achieving an important proof point for future automation across the organization.

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