Sutherland Transforms Refund Operations for India’s Leading Airline with 80% Faster Processing

Industry: Travel, Transportation, Hospitality & Logistics | Services: Automation, Robility®

Client Overview

Our client is India’s top-tier airline, renowned for its expansive domestic and international network, operational excellence, and premium in-flight service. Serving millions of passengers annually, the airline plays a pivotal role in connecting key global and regional markets.

The Challenge

Streamlining Complex Refund Processes to Reduce Cost and Improve Speed

The airline’s legacy refund process, particularly for tickets involving interline and partner carriers, was heavily manual and resource-intensive. Staff were required to navigate multiple systems, validate fare conditions, review supporting documentation, and manually process each refund request. This fragmented workflow resulted in:

• High resource dependency and operational overhead
  
• Extended refund turnaround times, impacting customer experience
  
• Elevated risk of human error and compliance gaps
  
• Inefficient allocation of skilled personnel to repetitive tasks

To meet rising customer expectations and manage increasing transaction volumes efficiently, the airline needed a future-ready, intelligent automation solution that could minimize manual effort, accelerate complex validations, and deliver end-to-end process efficiency at scale.

Sutherland Solution

Transforming Refund Operations with Intelligent Automation – Robility® 

To address inefficiencies and modernize its refund operations, Sutherland deployed Robility®, a modular intelligent automation platform designed to streamline complex, manual workflows. Tailored to the airline’s needs, the solution was configured to optimize refund processing across five key dimensions:

1. Automated Fare Rule Validation
   Robility® was integrated directly with both airline and partner systems to automatically validate refund eligibility in real time, eliminating delays caused by manual cross-referencing.
2. AI-Powered Document Analysis
   Advanced natural language processing capabilities enabled the platform to accurately interpret and validate supporting documentation, dramatically reducing human error and processing time.
3. Touchless Request Submission
   Automation bots generated and submitted refund requests directly into relevant systems, achieving zero manual touchpoints for standard scenarios.
4. Smart Exception Handling
   Robility® intelligently identified complex or edge-case transactions and routed them to a specialized team, significantly lowering escalation rates and maintaining processing velocity.
5. Real-Time Visibility and Performance Insights
   A custom-built analytics dashboard provided end-to-end visibility into refund volumes, automation performance, and trend analysis, empowering leadership with actionable insights for continuous improvement.

By replacing fragmented processes with intelligent automation, Sutherland helped the airline transform its refund operation into a streamlined, scalable, and future-ready function.

The Outcome

Reducing Costs, Enhancing Speed: A $3.5M Win Through Automation

Within weeks of implementation, Sutherland’s Robility® platform delivered transformative results for the airline’s refund operations. The solution drove an 80% reduction in refund processing time and a 70% decrease in manual effort, resulting in over $3.5 million in annualized cost savings.

By streamlining post-travel workflows and accelerating refund delivery, the airline not only optimized operational efficiency but also significantly enhanced the customer experience, reducing friction, building trust, and reinforcing brand loyalty.