Southwest Airlines Teams With Amazon on Technological Overhaul

Southwest Airlines has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider as the carrier advances its digital transformation initiative.

As part of an effort to overhaul Southwest’s technological systems following a high number of cancellations and delays during the Winter Holiday travel period, working with AWS will help the airline enhance the passenger journey, optimize operations and invest in IT infrastructure.

“With the help of AWS's leading cloud technology and expertise, we will launch improved digital solutions, responsive customer support, and streamlined operations as we deliver on our digital transformation initiatives,” Southwest senior vice president Lauren Woods said.

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Through the partnership with AWS, the carrier will harness the automatic scaling capabilities of cloud technology to process real-time fare searches more efficiently on its website and mobile app.

“Southwest is one of the world's largest low-cost carriers, operating 4,000 flights daily during peak travel season,” AWS senior vice president Matt Garman said. “AWS's proven experience in the travel industry, coupled with our vast portfolio of cloud technologies, empowers Southwest to increase operational resiliency, drive cost efficiency, and deliver exceptional experiences for its employees and customers.”

In addition, Southwest aims to provide next-generation customer service and employee tools in a test-and-learn capacity through their Innovation Lab powered by AWS. The airline also built a secure system that gathers and stores pricing and flight shopping data.

To avoid the issues faced in December, the carrier will use AWS storage, container and serverless compute services to optimize operational applications that support gate assignments, ground operations, flight operations and aircraft maintenance.

“Our shared culture of customer obsession will help Southwest innovate new travel solutions that will enhance customer touchpoints, flight operations and airplane and crew scheduling, to keep air travel affordable and enjoyable for passengers,” Garman continued.

Southwest will also implement a modernized data architecture to deliver analytics capabilities for analysts, data scientists and business users to gain real-time and predictive insights across its entire operations.

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