Viva Aerobus adds AI to fuel management and fare pricing
Viva Aerobus adopted OpenAirlines' SkyBreathe fuel analytics in 2023, which the supplier says uses machine learning on flight data, and in 2024 began implementing Fetcherr's generative AI pricing engine. Neither the airline nor its suppliers have published results for Viva.
The operating picture
Fuel and fares at a Mexican low-cost carrier
Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport Viva Aerobus Airbus A321-271NX XA-VXG (DSC09281). Photograph: MarcelX42 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped to fit). Illustrates the airline, not an AI deployment.
Fuel is a low-cost carrier's largest controllable cost, and fares are its main lever on revenue. Viva Aerobus, which OpenAirlines said in 2023 operated 77 Airbus aircraft, has brought AI suppliers in on both.
OpenAirlines' SkyBreathe platform has supported Viva's fuel efficiency programme since September 2023, with Nancy Madrigal as head of fuel conservation. In May 2024 the airline announced it was implementing Fetcherr's pricing engine, which sets fares at the moment a customer searches.
Selected implementations
The work behind the evidence
01 / Deployed
Fuel data turned into feedback for pilots
The operational problem
Fuel savings depend on many small decisions by pilots, dispatchers and engineers, each invisible without data that ties a flight's fuel burn to the choices behind it.
What the evidence reports
OpenAirlines said on 13 September 2023 that Viva Aerobus had adopted SkyBreathe, which applies big data algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning to flight data recorder files, operational flight plans and ACARS messages, combined with payload, weather and ATC constraints, to find savings and recommend actions. Pilots see their own performance and fuel insights through MyFuelCoach. Chief executive Juan Carlos Zuazua said the software "helps us improve our overall fuel management program".
Operational significance
The tool compares the fuel plan with what was actually flown and feeds the result back to individual pilots, so savings can be traced flight by flight.
Evidence still needed
OpenAirlines says the platform can cut fuel use by up to 5%, a general product claim. No savings for Viva have been published, and the supplier does not explain how its machine learning works.
A source can verify an announcement without verifying its projected outcome.
02 / Reported · unverified
Pricing the network at the moment of search
The operational problem
Fares updated a few times a day lag behind demand and competitor moves, especially on a network that is growing quickly.
What the evidence reports
PhocusWire reported on 30 May 2024 that Viva Aerobus was implementing Fetcherr's generative pricing engine, which uses what Fetcherr calls a Large Market Model to forecast demand and set prices when a search is made. Fetcherr's chief executive, Roy Cohen, said airlines' earlier pricing ran "a few times a day", and that the engine now prices "the entire network at the time a search query is made".
Operational significance
Pricing at the point of search is a different operating model from scheduled fare updates. Azul's experience with the same supplier shows how far such a system can scale once proven.
Evidence still needed
No start date, network coverage or revenue figure has been published since the 2024 announcement, so whether the engine prices Viva's fares today is unconfirmed.
A source can verify an announcement without verifying its projected outcome.
The wider register
Other tracked activity
Other records are shown separately, including non-AI technology and programmes at different stages of deployment. A register entry does not establish a measured AI benefit.
No other publicly listed records.
Editorial assessment
Viva Aerobus has put AI suppliers on its two biggest levers, fuel and fares, but neither has a published result.
The useful next evidence is a fuel saving measured against Viva's own baseline, and confirmation that Fetcherr's engine is pricing live markets.
Live data from the Aerostack register. Status reflects published evidence only. See Our approach for how records are graded.
Aerostack register · 2 tracked deployments
Aerostack tracks AI deployments across airports and airlines, with the published evidence behind each record. Photography is real aviation imagery. Record thumbnails may show the named airport or airline; other photographs do not.
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