Case Study: American Airlines Cargo achieves increased revenue and up to 40% improved capacity-forecast accuracy with Blue Yonder

American Airlines Cargo identifies additional revenue opportunities through increased accuracy in capacity forecasting

American Airlines Cargo, which moves more than 36 million ton-miles of freight and mail weekly across roughly 3,380 daily passenger flights to 240+ cities, faced a core challenge: accurately forecasting sellable cargo capacity on passenger aircraft. Capacity is multi-dimensional (weight, volume, position) and affected by passenger loads, fuel, airport limits and last-minute customer behavior, so under- or overestimating capacity risked both empty space and costly offloads—ultimately leaving revenue on the table.

To address this, the airline implemented JDA’s Cargo Revenue Optimizer for advanced capacity forecasting and overbooking. In tests the solution improved forecast accuracy versus the incumbent system by up to 40%, with volume/position accuracy around 93% and weight accuracy about 82%, leading to higher capacity forecasts, significant additional annual revenue, and reduced spoilage and offloads; the system has been moved into production and further phases are being planned.

American Airlines Cargo

Andy Rubin

Vice President, Cargo Revenue Management