Odysee is an innovative, new flight schedule
optimization software platform that leverages AI and big data to
optimize asset configuration for the airline industry and other
logistics operators
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- One year after announcing their partnership to
solve business challenges through innovation, Alaska Airlines and
UP.Labs, have officially announced their first new startup, Odysee,
at the UP.Summit. Odysee, which launched with $5M in seed funding led by UP.Partners, is
focused on lending powerful AI and computing power to inform
real-time tradeoff decisions in planning for and managing
operational logistics, starting with scheduling. The platform will
ensure the best use of each aircraft asset and the interconnections
between them, empowering teams to more effectively optimize one of
the most complex areas of an airline's business.
This AI-powered flight schedule optimization solution marks a
significant milestone in the journey that began at last year's
UP.Summit. Last year, the two companies announced their partnership
and set a vision to solve core strategic challenges for the
aviation industry with new companies that help unlock the future in
transportation and mobility.
"What sets Odysee apart is its ability to help airline
schedulers assess the various tradeoffs that come with certain
schedule changes, allowing them to make more informed choices in
building comprehensive flight schedules," says Odysee Chief
Executive Officer, Steve Casley.
"Our team is excited about the power and efficiency this technology
will provide to Alaska Airlines and all future customers and the
opportunity to continue building out its functionality."
Odysee utilizes an operations research-led approach to build
flight schedules and rapidly quantify the impacts of schedule
changes on revenue, profitability and reliability. The platform can
run hundreds of simulations within seconds to provide accurate
flight-level insights to stress-test a future schedule. This tool
can assess more options and evaluate more variables than the human
brain – giving teams the opportunity to make more informed
decisions.
"As CEO and a former COO, I know that configuring an airline to
use each airplane optimally is a key lever for operational
reliability, a remarkable travel experience for our guests, and
maximizing revenue," said Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Officer
Ben Minicucci. "I am thrilled that
Odysee, the first company launched through our partnership with
UP.Labs, leverages artificial intelligence to help our teams put
our airplanes in the right place, at the right time."
The partnership between UP.Labs and Alaska Airlines was
established as part of Alaska Star Ventures, Alaska Airlines'
investment arm and is aligned with Alaska's commitment to innovation and
sustainability. Over the next three years, the partnership will
launch additional startups focused on solving key challenges in
aviation and mobility.
UP.Labs is a venture lab and a core part of the UP.Partners
ecosystem, which also includes mobility investment fund UP.Ventures
and the UP.Summit, an invite-only mobility event that brings
together 300 of the world's most innovative minds rethinking the
future of transportation.
"The launch of Odysee marks an exciting milestone, uniting the
strengths of UP.Labs and Alaska Airlines to create a startup that
revolutionizes how flight schedules are built, analyzed and
optimized," says John Kuolt, Founder
and CEO of UP.Labs. "By combining our expertise and shared vision,
we're paving the way for new opportunities, driving growth, and
setting a new standard in our industry."
About Alaska Airlines
Alaska Air Group, Inc. is based in Seattle and comprised of subsidiaries Alaska
Airlines, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., Horizon Air and McGee Air
Services. With our recent acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, we now
serve more than 140 destinations throughout North America, Central America, Asia and across the Pacific. We are committed
to safety, remarkable customer care, operational excellence,
financial performance and sustainability. Alaska Airlines is a
member of the oneworld Alliance.
With oneworld and our additional global
partners, our guests have more choices than ever to purchase, earn
or redeem on alaskaair.com across 30
airlines and more than 1,000 worldwide destinations. Book travel
throughout the Pacific on Hawaiian Airlines
at hawaiianairlines.com. Learn more about Alaska
Airlines at news.alaskaair.com and Hawaiian
Airlines at newsroom.hawaiianairlines.com/blog.
Alaska Air Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as
"ALK."
About UP.Partners
UP.Partners is Transforming the Moving World by building and
investing in companies that move people and goods cleaner, faster,
safer, and at lower cost — on the ground, in the air, on the sea,
and in space. The multi-strategy firm achieves this goal through
its unique and virtuous ecosystem encompassing UP.Ventures,
UP.Labs, and UP.Summit. UP.Ventures invests in companies and
technologies to enable the future of mobility, working with some of
the world's most innovative investors and entrepreneurs. With
flagship launch partner Porsche, UP.Labs is a first-of-its-kind
venture lab, partnering with the world's largest corporations to
identify the most pressing challenges that they, and broader
society, face. The UP.Summit is an invitation-only experience
co-hosted with Tom and Steuart
Walton and Ross Perot Jr., in
Bentonville, AR and Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX respectively, bringing
together the world's most innovative minds to rethink the future of
transportation. For more information, visit www.UP.partners or
follow on Twitter @UpPartnersVC or LinkedIn.
About UP.Labs
UP.Labs is a first of its kind Venture
Lab using a new venture model to solve core problems for the
world's most important corporations in the mobility world. By
bringing together world-class business leaders, investors and
corporate partners, UP.Labs solves industry problems for
corporations who have the scale and resources but cannot do it on
their own. Recognizing that transportation is the underlying fabric
of society, UP.Labs utilizes these strategic partnerships to
rapidly ideate, build and scale disruptive startups transforming
the way we move people and goods to be cleaner, faster, and safer.
To learn more visit https://up.partners/labs/.
About UP.Summit
UP.Summit is an annual, invitation-only gathering of the
world's most innovative minds rethinking the future of
transportation. Some of the most impactful investors,
entrepreneurs, and leaders in policy, defense, transportation and
mobility companies gather at the summit each year with the goal of
moving people and goods in cleaner, faster, safer, and at
lower-cost ways - on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in
space. UP.Summit was founded in 2017 and is jointly
organized by UP.Partners, Tom and Steuart
Walton, and Ross Perot Jr.
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