New acquisition brings proven AI disruption recovery to airlines worldwide, reducing disruption costs by up to 30%

SITA acquires Big Blue Analytics, developer of OCC Assistant Manager (OCCam), an AI-enabled disruption optimization platform proven in airline operations. Airlines globally can now adopt the solution at scale, supported by SITA’s worldwide footprint.

Airlines around the world will now have access to the most advancedand provenAI-enableddisruptionmanagementplatform in airline operations.Disruption is aviation's most expensive unsolved problem, costing airlinestens ofbillions of dollarsevery year.To address this, SITA hasacquiredBig Blue Analytics, the team behind OCC Assistant Manager (OCCam), and will scale the platform to airlines worldwide as the foundation of a broaderIntelligentOperations Control Center vision. 

OCCamis an AI-enabled disruption optimization platform,developed and provenwithinlive airline operations. When disruption hits, it evaluates every active constraint together –aircraft, crew, passenger itineraries, maintenance – and produces a single, coherent recovery plan in minutes. In production, airlines usingOCCamhave cut disruption costsup to30%. The starting point, not the ceiling. 

Solving disruption is genuinely hard.Aircraft, crew,passengersand maintenance allhave tobeoptimizedtogether, under constant change, against airline priorities that shift by the hour. Foryears, no system has done this well enoughto deliver consistent,feasibleoutcomes fast enough. 

Most tools today work in sequence.Reassigntheaircraft. Find legal crew.Rebookpassengers. Every step creates rework, and small problems cascade. Controllers and duty managers carry that pressure in real time, making the right call fast, in a system that is already stretched. 

This drives cost. For amid-sizecarrieroperatingjust over 100aircraft,disruption costs can reach betweenUS$70M-$80M.A 25-30% reduction translates into US$20M-$30M. Yet most systems cannot deliver these savings, and they cannot prove them. 

OCCamsolves both problems.First, itbreaksthesequential decision-making process. Teamsrapidly receiveranked,feasiblerecovery plans that optimiseaircraft,crewand passengers together, with a clear view of cost, on-time performance, passengerimpactand compliance.Second,it makes the impact measurable.Every decision is tracked, allowing airlines to quantify savings, evaluate operational performance anddemonstratea clear return from day one. 

"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. The airlines that act on this first will recover faster, fly more, and protect more revenue than those that wait, and AI-enabled tools likeOCCamare making that possible,"said David Lavorel, CEO of SITA. 

SITA already delivers solutions such as SITA Mission Watch to more than 100 Operations Control Centers worldwide, helping airlinesmonitorandoptimizetheir operations.