Title

AWS re:Invent 2023 - How United Airlines Accelerates Innovation with Amazon DocumentDB (DAT337)

Summary

• Rosham Gupta, the product management lead for Amazon DocumentDB, and Paul McLean, Managing Director of the Passenger Service Systems Team at United Airlines, presented on how United Airlines leverages Amazon DocumentDB to innovate and improve their services.
• DocumentDB is a scalable, highly durable, fully managed database service for MongoDB API-based workloads, with a flexible schema suitable for JSON data, which is increasingly common.
• DocumentDB's architecture separates compute and storage, allowing for independent scaling and quick vertical scaling without data hydration.
• New features in 2023 include MongoDB 5.0 API compatibility, JSON schema validation, increased storage capacity, parallel index building, document compression, client-side field-level encryption, and integrations with AWS services like Lambda and SageMaker Canvas.
• United Airlines is using DocumentDB to modernize their Passenger Service System (PSS), moving away from a legacy mainframe system to a more flexible, scalable cloud-based system.
• The airline has started with seating transformation, consolidating over 30 applications into a single service that interacts with DocumentDB for real-time data validation and seat inventory management.
• United is exploring generative AI to enhance customer service by providing instant, accurate responses to inquiries about changes in seating and other aspects of the travel experience.
• The transformation is part of a long-term strategy to modernize the airline's systems, improve customer experience, and enable rapid innovation.

Insights

• The separation of compute and storage in DocumentDB's architecture is a significant advantage for scalability and cost-efficiency, as it allows for more precise resource allocation based on workload demands.
• The introduction of MongoDB 5.0 API compatibility and managed version upgrades in DocumentDB indicates AWS's commitment to keeping the service up-to-date with the latest database technologies and reducing migration friction for customers.
• United Airlines' decision to use DocumentDB for their PSS transformation highlights the trend of large enterprises moving away from legacy systems to embrace cloud-native solutions for greater agility and innovation.
• The use of generative AI to interpret and respond to customer queries demonstrates an innovative approach to customer service, leveraging the latest advancements in AI to improve the travel experience.
• The partnership between AWS and United Airlines showcases the collaborative nature of cloud service adoption, where customer feedback and challenges lead to improvements and new features in the service offerings.