After two years of using PROS RME+, Air Transat set its sights on more advanced, data-driven pricing capabilities. With a goal to move beyond traditional forecasting and better align with real-time demand, the airline expanded their solution to PROS Revenue Management Advantage (RMA) with Willingness-to-Pay (WTP). The result? Greater pricing accuracy, improved demand forecasting, and stronger executive buy-in for a modern revenue management approach built for today’s dynamic market.
In this customer interview, Justin Jander, Senior Director, Product Management at PROS, sits down with Aimé Kuiteing, Senior Director, Revenue Management Systems at Air Transat. Aimé shares how the transition to RMA with WTP is redefining the airline’s revenue practices, why PROS stood out during vendor selection, and what advice he has for other carriers embarking on a similar journey.
Video Highlights
- 0:56 – How is the PROS system that you use today working to hit the strategy that you are looking for at Air Transat?
- 2:44 – What are the benefits you have already seen from using RMA WTP? How does it compare to RME+?
- 5:56 – Can you describe your experience working with PROS experts on arriving at the current solution you have today?
- 9:15 – What would you recommend to another customer who is about to embark on their journey in implementing WTP?
Full Transcript
Hello, everyone, and welcome to this discussion on revenue management. I’m joined today by Aimé from Air Transat, and I’m excited to have the chance to, talk to him and ask him a few questions.
So we’ll start out with the easiest question. Tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do at Air Transat, and, how you came into the role.
Thank you, Justin, for having me. So, my name is Aimé Kuiteing, and then, I’ve been working for Air Transat, for seven years as head of revenue management system.
And, in that role, I oversee revenue management system and processes as well as, all, AI and machine learning algorithm designed for revenue optimization.
And I have been in the field of revenue management for more than a decade.
Well,
How is the PROS system that you use today working to hit the strategy that you are looking for at Air Transat?
I think, you know, we we you obviously have a pro solution in place. So can you tell us a little bit about how the pro solution that you’re using today works, to hit the strategy that you’re looking for at Air Transat?
Okay. That’s a good question. I think that, before COVID nineteen pandemic, so, we were actually using an in house, like, based, airframe solution, that was heavily, rely on the historical booking pattern.
And, we were struggling to actually capture the current trend and adjust the price in an optimal manner.
So during the pandemic, so, you know, everything was almost shut down. So we had the time to actually reevaluate our revenue strategy, processes, and, and thought.
And, we came up to the conclusion that we, need a solution that we actually that leverage, AI and machine learning to, for a better solution, for a better prediction, and, better pricing for our flights.
So, we thought that that would be a good idea to accelerate, and that solution will accelerate, actually, our revenue growth strategy.
So we start talking with many vendors, and, it was obvious that, Pro stood out as the company that that will actually help us to get where we wanted to be in terms of revenue management practices.
Excellent. So
What are the benefits you have already seen from using RMA WTP? How does it compare to RME+?
I think part of that journey also is now included moving from the RME solution to the RMA solution at the leg level with WTP enabled.
Can you tell us a little bit about the benefits that you’re seeing of the RMA with WTP, over what you saw it had in RME before?
Yeah. And before, getting to that question, so I think that, I would say that since we have been using, Post, we have, noticing, very good improvement in our revenue management practices. So, a better data driven decision and overall, flight management efficiency.
And, we can see that, the deployment of, post solution is actually paving the way, for long term revenue growth for Air Transat.
So you’d say, like, there’s the the benefit of the system itself, but also then the best practices and things working with that.
Yes. So we are very happy with that. Okay. Coming back to the willingness to pay, I think that, what we have seen with the willingness to pay is, the results are very promising.
So, we have seen an improvement in demand focus accuracy.
So, a better interpretation of the unique transit operation and booking pattern, which is not easy, and a more reactive pricing curve, accurately aligned with flight revenue performance, and then most importantly, the a better buy in of, system user. Yeah. That’s great.
I I think that buy in is really important because it’s better fitting the the model that you have at Air Transat. So that seems to be a a really big part of it.
Yeah. Definitely. And, also, we are running a pilot to actually demonstrate the benefits of using RME and willingness to pay.
And I’m sure that helps drive more confidence by seeing that in the pipeline.
Exactly. And so far, what we have seen as a result is that with willingness to pay, the horizon is actually up compared to, RME plus and the in house solution. And that’s due to the higher average fare and low load factor. And that’s actually changing the mindset at Transat because we, most of the time, usually go for the load factor.
So, that’s, that’s, great news, and, I would say that the Transat leadership is really happy with the results so far.
I’m sure that’s a big part too, the mindset shift that has to happen to to shift for something like a load factor based strategy to a revenue based strategy, or more directly, a revenue based strategy.
So sounds like the the executive team is really getting into that as well and thinking about the metrics and things that you’re producing.
Oh, yeah. You you it was not, easy task as you know, for moving from RME plus to RME and we need to pay that, lead to additional cost. So we have to prove to them that, okay, with that, we’ll actually drive value.
So one of the things
Can you describe your experience working with PROS experts on arriving at the current solution you have today?
I know from working with you all, there was a lot of work, with the PROS teams and some some experts, that helped you get to this solution that you’re using now. Can you describe that process of working with the PROS team and how you kind of got to the solution where you are today?
Oh, yeah. I think that, working with the PROS team and pro test, has been very pleasant and and, enjoyable, despite the fact that, the topic that you actually are in is very, very complex. So, I would say that, after using the RME plus solution for, like, two years, we had quite a few challenges that, we shared them with the post expert.
And, after a deep dive analysis from PROS and Transat team, we came up to the conclusion that, we have already leveraged all the benefit from the RME loss solution.
And, post expert actually recommend to accelerate the system upgrade that was initially planned, two years from now. So that’s, how we move to, to the willingness to pay. And then, with that, PROS team actually conduct mini workshop to demonstrate that, the willingness to pay and RME solution e solution, sorry, will actually resolve most of the key challenge that we were raising. And, he was very, very supportive from both sides, and he was actually enjoyable because despite the fact that, it’s a very complex solution to put in place, and the team were very stressful.
So Paul’s team was committed for to project success, and, also, they were making sure that we actually get the return on investment. Exactly.
And it seems I as my recollection, I think there was an openness that the teams were able to have. Like, we were able to kind of, both sides were able to be honest with each other and talk about the challenges with RME plus and what the benefits of RME were. Do you agree that that was kind of a an that openness allowed us to work together to find the right solution?
Yeah. Definitely. Yes. I I I think that, we’re very happy with your help. And by starting with the RME plus solution was the the best way to get introduced to to post product.
And also from the outside, we didn’t really understand our businesses. We have to go through that, that process and then, learn also the the tool. And I think that, after using that R and P plus solution for two years, we all agreed that we need to accelerate the upgrade and move to the next step, and that was really nice to see.
What would you recommend to another customer who is about to embark on their journey in implementing WTP?
So, other airlines, you’ve been here this week. Other airlines have talked about they’re starting to look at WTP and think about what that means for them. What advice would you give to other airlines that are starting to embark on this willingness to pay, adventure, if you will?
So what I will say is that, embrace the journey and, welcome the challenges and, do what it takes to make the required resources available for the project and leverage those, expertise because at the end, you have a product that will contribute to the growth of your revenue and also, will enhance your revenue management.
That’s great. And I think we we’ve heard that before that that, it’s not just the system. Right? It’s a lot more than that. It’s the how you use it and then the expertise that you’re bringing in and and but getting commitment across the board is really important. Right?
Yes. It’s very, very important. And that’s why, I think that, not only the the user, but also the leadership had to buy into into this. And, yeah, that’s great.
Well, Aimé, thank you very much for your time today.
We really appreciate it in hearing the the feedback from you and the opportunities that, are out there for other airlines. So thank you very much. Yeah.
It’s a pleasure. So I we are really happy with the post product, and we look forward to add another product to what is this new.
We certainly like the sound of that. Thank you very much.
Thank you.