Eggplant Automation for Efficient Software Testing in the Airlines Industry

Eggplant Automation, a part of the Eggplant suite developed by Keysight Technologies, is a cutting-edge software testing solution designed to streamline functional, regression, and performance testing. It leverages AI-driven testing to enable faster and more accurate testing processes, making it an ideal choice for industries requiring high-quality standards and rapid deployment cycles. In this case study, we explore how a leading airline company used Eggplant Automation to enhance software quality and improve operational efficiency across their digital platforms.

Background: The Airline Company

The client, a major global airline, operates a vast network of flight routes and digital services that cater to millions of passengers each year. With a high demand for seamless booking experiences, real-time flight tracking, mobile applications, and web-based check-in systems, the company’s software systems are critical to both operational success and customer satisfaction.

As the airline’s digital infrastructure grew in complexity, they faced several challenges in maintaining the quality and reliability of their software. The airline needed a solution to scale their testing capabilities across multiple platforms and devices while ensuring a smooth user experience for customers booking tickets, checking in, or managing their flight details.

Key Issues Faced by the Airline:

1. Manual Testing Limitations: Despite having a large QA team, testing remained largely manual and labor-intensive, slowing down their ability to release updates or new features.
2. Complex Cross-Platform Testing: The airline’s digital infrastructure involved web applications, mobile applications, and kiosks in airports. Testing all of these platforms manually or with traditional frameworks was becoming increasingly cumbersome.
3. High Volume of Transactions: With thousands of passengers interacting with the airline’s digital systems daily, ensuring the stability and scalability of the platforms was critical, especially during peak travel seasons.
4. Integration with New Technologies: The airline was incorporating new features such as real-time flight tracking, personalized offers, and integration with third-party services (like baggage tracking) that required automated end-to-end testing.
5. Compliance and Quality Assurance: Due to industry regulations, any failure in the airline’s booking system or flight tracking could have serious operational and financial consequences. Ensuring compliance and avoiding any downtime was a top priority.

The Solution: Eggplant Automation

To address these challenges, the airline adopted Eggplant Functional for intelligent, AI-powered test automation. Eggplant’s capabilities, including model-based testing, AI-driven visual validation, and cross-platform support, enabled the company to:

1. Automate Complex User Journeys: With Eggplant’s AI capabilities, the airline was able to replicate complex customer journeys (like booking tickets, changing flight details, or checking in) across different platforms with minimal manual intervention.
2. Cross-Platform Testing: The solution enabled the airline to test on web applications, mobile platforms, and airport kiosks simultaneously, ensuring a consistent experience for customers regardless of their device.
3. Scale Performance Testing: Eggplant’s performance testing tools allowed the airline to simulate real-world scenarios (such as heavy user traffic during holiday seasons) and measure system performance under load.
4. Continuous Integration: Eggplant was integrated into the airline’s CI/CD pipeline, automating the testing process with each new software release, ensuring that defects were caught early and preventing delays in deployment.

Key Features Leveraged:

• AI-Powered Test Design: Eggplant used AI to design tests based on common user behaviors, automatically creating test cases for the most used workflows, such as flight booking and payment processing.
• Cross-Platform Execution: Automated tests were executed across different devices, ensuring that passengers experienced consistent functionality and performance, whether they were using a smartphone, desktop, or airport kiosk.
• Integration with CI/CD Pipeline: Eggplant’s seamless integration into the CI/CD pipeline ensured that automated tests were triggered with every new code push, guaranteeing continuous feedback and faster deployments.
• Real-Time Reporting and Insights: Eggplant provided detailed insights into test performance and failures, helping the team quickly identify critical issues that could impact passenger experience or operational processes.

Results and Benefits

The airline experienced significant improvements in both efficiency and quality after adopting Eggplant Automation. Key results included:

1. Improved Testing Efficiency: Automated tests were able to execute much faster than manual tests, reducing the time required for testing by over 50%. This allowed the QA team to focus on higher-value tasks.
2. Faster Time-to-Market: The integration of Eggplant Automation into the airline’s CI/CD pipeline reduced the time it took to release new features or updates by up to 40%.
3. Better Test Coverage: Automated tests increased the airline’s test coverage by 35%, covering more scenarios and user journeys. This helped identify issues earlier in the development process and improved software quality.
4. Enhanced Customer Experience: By automating tests across mobile apps, web portals, and airport kiosks, the airline ensured that customers had a smooth and consistent experience across all touchpoints, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
5. Scalability for Peak Seasons: Eggplant’s performance testing tools enabled the airline to simulate high-traffic conditions during peak seasons, ensuring their systems could handle the increased load without downtime or performance degradation.
6. Compliance Assurance: Automated testing ensured that all critical workflows, especially related to bookings and flight tracking, met regulatory and compliance standards, reducing the risk of costly errors.

Conclusion

Eggplant Automation helped the airline overcome several key challenges, including slow testing cycles, inconsistent cross-platform experiences, and difficulty scaling testing for peak periods. By automating the testing of their critical digital systems and integrating Eggplant into their CI/CD pipeline, the airline improved test efficiency, reduced time-to-market, and enhanced customer satisfaction. This case highlights the importance of AI-driven test automation in industries like aviation, where high-quality standards, scalability, and fast deployment cycles are essential for success