Ostrum Makes Air Travel Simpler for Passengers with Reduced Mobility Using AWS

Founded in 2020, Ostrum wanted to address a gap in airport services and simplify the process of receiving assistance for passengers. Its solution includes dedicated apps for passengers, airline crew, and service providers, as well as a controller used at the airport to facilitate seamless communication.

Approximately 2% of passengers require assistance at the airport, so Ostrum’s solution needed to be cost-efficient because airports using it would be catering to only a small proportion of passengers. Ostrum also wanted to help service providers plan ahead instead of reacting when the passenger arrives to prevent passenger discomfort and flight delays. Ostrum’s solution aims to bring together all support team members and help them prepare while making it simple for passengers to use PRM services and take control of their journeys. Ostrum built its solution on AWS because the founder had experience with AWS at a previous organization and appreciated its focus on innovation and time to market. “AWS provides a gamut of services and continues to include more,” says Rakesh Shahu, general manager at Ostrum. “We knew we could solve any problem that we would face using AWS.”

During the development, Ostrum drew on AWS expertise regarding which services to use and how to scale. Ostrum also completed a review using the AWS Well-Architected Framework, which helps cloud architects build secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure for a variety of applications and workloads using architectural best practices. “AWS provides suggestions that make our solution better and more scalable, secure, and adaptable to innovative ideas,” says Shahu.

Ostrum’s solution built on AWS went live at two London airports Luton in 2022 and Gatwick in 2023 and has supported nearly 2 million passengers in the first 3 years. Ostrum streamlines access and communication with service providers and airports, enhancing the passenger experience and increasing the chances of higher ratings and future bookings. For example, passengers can personalize bookings by requesting services from the parking lot instead of needing to reach a help point on their own. They can also send messages as their needs change, such as requesting to stop at a restaurant instead of waiting in a single location until their flight departs. The passenger app, Purple Door, acts as a digital safety net and significantly enhances passenger independence. Passengers or their caregivers can be in touch with the assistance team before, during, and after their travel.

The experience is faster for both customers and service providers: Ostrum’s solution takes about 3 seconds to process a booking over 10 times faster than traditional PRM solutions and offers 99.9% availability.

The solution helps service providers receive passenger information in advance so that they have plenty of time in which to prepare resources and make informed decisions instead of waiting to take action until the passenger arrives at the airport. Because cabin crews and dispatch teams have direct access to the solution, they don’t need to rely on last-minute phone calls, which can lead to delays. Service providers also receive more detailed, actionable information for improvement because passengers can leave feedback for each step of the journey.

Ostrum facilitates up to 10% cost savings compared with a traditional PRM solution because of the increased operational efficiency. The system automatically assigns the closest available agent to a passenger who needs PRM services. “The job assignment is fully automated, which means the airport or service provider doesn’t need additional people to manage operations,” says Shahu. “The time they save with this increased efficiency can be invested in meeting the passenger face to face.” Ostrum facilitates simple data sharing and near real-time collaboration for better situational awareness, efficient gate allocation, and reduced aircraft turnaround times. Reporting capabilities also make it simpler for service providers to balance loads and employ the appropriate number of agents.

Using AWS services, Ostrum can keep costs low and scale as needed because costs increase only as usage increases. “If we need more scalability, we can change within a few hours,” says Shahu. “That flexibility is big.”

Ostrum has business continuity planning with two availability zones, replicated databases, and encryption capabilities to maintain reliability and security. “Using AWS services, we make sure that our solution is stable and quickly scalable while protecting integrity,” says Shahu. Ostrum’s solution keeps personal data secure and achieves General Data Protection Regulation compliance. “With our solution built on AWS, passengers’ privacy is protected,” says Shahu. “We share everything needed to help manage PRM services without sharing anything we shouldn’t.”

Ostrum plans to continue growing its customer base, and its next step will be to go live with its solution at Belgrade Airport in Serbia. The company plans to expand to other airports around the world and is currently developing additional features, such as support for more languages in new locales and prediction models to help service providers better anticipate resources needed throughout the day. “The innovation that AWS is doing in areas like artificial intelligence prod us to extend our product capabilities as well,” says Shahu.