Airlines around the world are increasingly adopting flexible and dynamic network planning approaches to cope with persistent disruptions resulting from geopolitical issues, supply chain constraints, and demand fluctuations.
During the recent CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Lisbon, top executives from British Airways, Finnair, and TAP Air Portugal shared their strategies that focus on continuous contingency planning rather than traditional long-term forecasts. British Airways’ Neil Chernoff emphasized embedding alternative deployment options into annual planning cycles, allowing the airline to swiftly adapt if certain routes or markets face unexpected issues.
Adapting to geopolitical and operational challenges
Finnair, heavily impacted by the Russian airspace closure, highlighted how COVID-19 taught the importance of agility and risk tolerance in planning. According to Chief Revenue Officer Christine Rovelli, the airline now considers airspace closure a constant operational reality rather than a temporary scenario. Similarly, TAP Air Portugal’s group head of strategy, Henri-Charles Ozarovsky, noted that the airline employs multiple micro-plans to ensure resilience, acknowledging that volatility in African markets requires ongoing adaptability.
“You have to have five micro plans all the time,”
said Ozarovsky. “You can’t live thinking that everything’s going to be again OK next year … Make a steady plan, but you need to have three more alternatives.”
Overall, these airlines are moving away from fixed, long-term schedules towards a more flexible, risk-conscious operational model that can better manage fluctuations and disruptions with minimal impact.
