The acquisition of Big Blue Analytics by Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA) is set to transform airline operations worldwide, with OCCam emerging as a powerful solution to one of aviation’s most costly challenges.
Disruptions remain a major burden for airlines, costing the industry billions of dollars annually. However, OCCam, the AI-enabled disruption optimisation platform developed by Big Blue Analytics, is designed to tackle this problem directly. Following the acquisition, SITA plans to scale the technology globally, giving airlines access to advanced operational recovery tools.
OCCam has already proven its value in live airline environments. The platform analyses multiple operational constraints simultaneously, including aircraft availability, crew scheduling, passenger itineraries and maintenance requirements. It then generates a unified recovery plan within minutes.
According to SITA, airlines using OCCam have achieved disruption cost reductions of up to 30 per cent. This capability is particularly significant as operational disruptions continue to increase across global aviation networks.
What OCCam Can do for Airlines
Chief Executive Officer, SITA, Mr David Lavorel, said airlines can no longer afford to view disruptions as an unavoidable cost of doing business.
“Airlines have traditionally treated disruption as a fixed cost of doing business, but there is a clear opportunity to approach it differently. In an increasingly volatile and fast-moving environment, the ability to recover with the same agility becomes critical,” he said.
Mr Lavorel added: “The airlines that act on this first will recover faster, fly more, and protect more revenue than those that wait, and AI-enabled tools like OCCam are making that possible.”
The challenge of disruption management is complex because aircraft, crew, passengers and maintenance activities must be coordinated continuously. Meanwhile, airline priorities can change rapidly due to weather events, technical issues and network constraints.
Most existing systems approach these challenges sequentially. Aircraft are reassigned first, crew schedules are adjusted next, and passengers are rebooked afterwards. Consequently, each step often creates additional operational complications, increasing costs and workload for operations teams.
OCCam takes a different approach. The platform evaluates all constraints together and provides ranked recovery options. In addition, airline controllers receive visibility into cost implications, passenger impact, compliance requirements and on-time performance outcomes before decisions are made.
For a medium-sized airline operating slightly more than 100 aircraft, disruption costs can reach between US$70 million and US$80 million annually. Therefore, a 25 to 30 per cent reduction could deliver savings of between US$20 million and US$30 million each year.
Beyond operational recovery, OCCam enables airlines to measure the effectiveness of every decision. This allows operators to quantify savings, assess performance and demonstrate return on investment from implementation.
SITA already supports more than 100 Operations Control Centres globally through solutions such as Mission Watch. The company also successfully deployed AI-powered OptiFlight across international markets. As a result, SITA believes OCCam can achieve rapid adoption throughout the airline industry.
Chief Executive Officer, SITA for Aircraft, Mr Yann Cabaret, described the acquisition as the foundation for a broader Intelligent Operations Control Center strategy.
“This is the first step towards a much bigger Intelligent Operations Control Center vision, one where planning, monitoring, and recovery come together in a single system,” he said.
Founder, Big Blue Analytics, Mr Pau Collellmir, expressed confidence that the partnership would accelerate the platform’s reach.
“With SITA, we can take what we have built further. Reaching more airlines, faster, and turning advanced optimisation into practical tools that help operations teams work smarter every day,” he stated.
As aviation becomes increasingly data-driven, OCCam is expected to play a critical role in helping airlines recover faster, improve efficiency and protect revenues in an unpredictable operating environment.
