Optimising airline revenue management

When airlines purchase revenue management software, they often fail to focus on how this software will be used. To ensure maximum benefits from this tool, airlines need to establish and provide support for a group of people who interact on an ongoing basis and who become a ‘community of practice’. This group establishes protocols and standard procedures that are the key to having an optimal mix of airline passengers that will result in maximum revenues. This paper discusses how a community of practice can be cultivated in an airline's revenue management and marketing departments, and provides some examples of procedures and performance monitoring.