SITA has purchased Big Blue Analytics, the developer of the AI-powered OCC Assistant Manager (OCCam) platform, in a move designed to speed up the airline industry’s shift toward intelligent disruption management tools.
The deal positions OCCam as the cornerstone of SITA’s wider Intelligent Operations Control Center strategy, which aims to help carriers cut both the operational and financial toll of flight disruptions. Delays, cancellations and other operational breakdowns cost airlines tens of billions of dollars each year, making disruption one of aviation’s most expensive recurring problems.
OCCam, already running in live airline operations, uses AI to weigh several operational factors at once, such as aircraft availability, crew rosters, passenger itineraries and maintenance needs, and then produces a coordinated recovery plan in a matter of minutes. SITA reports that carriers using the system have trimmed disruption-related costs by as much as 30 per cent.
The company pointed out that conventional disruption tools tend to tackle problems one at a time, forcing airlines to sort out aircraft allocation, crew assignments and passenger rebooking as separate tasks. That fragmented method can breed inefficiency and trigger knock-on operational headaches. OCCam counters this by producing ranked recovery options that balance aircraft, crew and passenger needs together, while showing the cost impact, operational performance, passenger effects and regulatory compliance tied to each scenario.
The platform also lets airlines gauge how well their recovery choices worked, making it easier to put a number on cost savings and performance gains.
For a mid-sized carrier flying more than 100 aircraft, annual disruption costs can sit between US$70m and US$80m. SITA estimates a reduction of 25 to 30 per cent could deliver savings of US$20m to US$30m.
David Lavorel, Chief Executive Officer of SITA, said airlines have long viewed disruption as an unavoidable cost of operating, but he argued there is a real chance to change that mindset. In a volatile, fast-paced environment, he said, the capacity to bounce back quickly has become essential, and carriers that move first will recover sooner, fly more and safeguard more revenue than those that hesitate, with AI tools like OCCam making that shift achievable.
SITA already backs more than 100 airline Operations Control Centers worldwide through offerings such as Mission Watch, which helps carriers track and fine-tune operational performance. The acquisition extends a broader push to embed AI across airline operations, coming after the launch of its OptiFlight product. The company added that it is building further AI features, including large language models and agent-based systems, to strengthen operational planning and recovery.
Yann Cabaret, chief executive officer of SITA for Aircraft, described the acquisition as the opening move toward a far larger Intelligent Operations Control Center vision, one uniting planning, monitoring and recovery within a single system. AI, he noted, makes it possible to juggle many constraints simultaneously and shape decisions to fit each airline in ways that were previously out of reach.
Pau Collellmir, founder of Big Blue Analytics, said joining SITA would let the team build on its work, reach more airlines faster and convert advanced optimisation into practical tools that help operations staff work more efficiently every day.
