Starting point
A global company at the heart of the aviation industry was struggling with slow IT processes and a traditional way of working. Every new project needed around three months just to get started, and the business was running out of patience.
Leadership decided it was time for an agile transformation. In aviation, speed and alignment matter as much as getting an aircraft ready for take-off.
How the change started
The transformation was started by an experienced and determined team made up of people from different departments, who set out to change how the company worked. They adopted Scrum and Kanban: Scrum brought regular sprints and close collaboration so projects moved faster, and Kanban made the workflow visible and processes more transparent. Together they helped the company leave its old waterfall model behind.
Two hard first projects
The first big challenge was a mobile booking app. It brought together teams from different departments with different expectations, and at first poor communication and conflicting views delayed the start. Regular meetings and open communication removed the barriers between the teams, and the project gradually took shape.
The second was selling exit-row seats, an area nobody in the team had worked on before. The team had to learn fast. By absorbing new knowledge quickly and sharing what they learned, they moved the project forward successfully.
Spreading the way of working
Over time, other teams followed the first team’s example and joined the transformation. Each faced its own challenges and worked to adapt to agile methods. Collaboration grew, communication improved and projects moved faster.
Result
The time needed to start projects fell dramatically. Waits of three months gave way to projects that start within days. The business became faster and more flexible, customer satisfaction rose, and the company’s competitive edge grew stronger.