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Jetstar Adopts Snowflake cloud for Data Analytics, Optimizing Operations and Performance

Data Analytics

Business Honor
24 March, 2025

Jetstar leverages Snowflake cloud for data analytics, improving scheduling, operations, and overall performance.

At a Snowflake event in Melbourne, Alex Hopkins, the head of data, analytics, and automation for low-cost airline Jetstar, acknowledged that even a 21-year-old firm like Jetstar has legacy technology.
Jetstar started a proof of concept in 2019 with the goal of replacing an outdated, on-premises system that was approaching the end of its useful life with the Snowflake data cloud.
Jetstar secured a deal with Snowflake because its data infrastructure was no longer usable by 2023. Hopkins stated that this choice was aided by the cloud consumption model because the airline was unsure of how soon it could implement the new system.

His team is already transferring other data assets onto the platform, and its goal of "safe self-service" for analytics is beginning to take shape. The first application went live in 2024. Creating lab settings that let staff members experiment with the platform without worrying about impacting Jetstar's operational systems is one aspect of it. The other is to create a schedule for the roughly 100 aircraft operated by Jetstar.

Jetstar is looking for ways to optimize these timetables automatically and to recover more quickly in the event of an emergency, such as an airport closing due to bad weather or an aircraft requiring unplanned maintenance before it can resume passenger service. Hopkins noted that despite spending less to attain this level of performance, Jetstar's on-time arrival record is better than Virgin Australia's and only marginally poorer than that of its parent company, Qantas.

The goal of the data, analytics, and automation team at Jetstar is to provide as many high-value applications as possible while the company adds more data assets to Snowflake. To get all the data they desire into end consumers' hands, however, more work remains. "We're still going strong," Hopkins added.