Airline cuts down inflight food waste: See how!

One of Europe’s major international airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, is wasting less food on board its aircraft thanks to artificial intelligence.

The use of digital technology helps the airline to meet its sustainability targets as well as to cut costs for the airline.

USING AI TO FORECAST

Indeed, not all flight bookings made result in passengers taking their seats on a flight.

AI programs are helping KLM to predict how many booked passengers, will actually board their flights.

Data shows that between 3 and 5% of booked passengers do not show up for flights.

AI CALCULATES AIRLINE FOOD REQUIREMENTS

KLM Airlines uses artificial intelligence to determine the number of inflight meals needed on board – and to help cut food waste.

This allows the international airline to calculate the exact number of inflight meals it needs for a flight.

CUTTING AIRLINE FOOD WASTE

As a result, KLM is better able to reduce food waste on its passenger flights.

With the help of AI, KLM achieves up to 63% less food waste, based on the expected number of passengers per flight.

On an annual basis, this amounts to savings of more than 100 000 kg of food for the airline.

HISTORICAL AIRLINE FLIGHT DATA

The AI model predicts the number of passengers on board based on historical data.

KLM’s Meals On Board System (MOBS) receives the expected passenger numbers per flight with separate forecasts for the various classes on a flight.

The AI model starts predicting passenger numbers 17 days before flights and continues until 20 minutes before the flight departs.

This means the that airline can accurately predict the possible number of passengers on flights for its catering processes, thus preventing wasted food.

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