From days to minutes: How Jaspersoft^® transformed data and reporting access at Alaska International Airport System

Challenge

Creating reports for customers and legislators took days and was resource-intensive

Operated by the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, the Alaska International Airport System (System) comprised of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Fairbanks International Airport, is a major hub for cargo and passenger flights and plays a critical role in global logistics. It tracks and manages millions of transactions and activities every year, including airline and terminal rents and fees, land leases, and airline operations through a system called PROPworks. The System needs to report on the millions of activities and financial transactions captured in PROPworks, for example:

• Cargo tonnage

• Passenger activity

• Number of landings

• Weights of aircraft taking off

• Fuel consumption

• Airline and non-airline revenues

Airlines that pay for System usage rely on these reports to understand the System's revenues relative to its expenses and whether the AIAS is above or below plan. In addition, legislators often ask for activity reporting to inform economic development goals and infrastructure planning. But PROPworks's canned reporting features were not robust enough to handle the System’s activity tracking and reporting needs.

Creating reports for marketing, customers, and strategic planning required manually pulling data into Microsoft Access, then processing it in Excel. This method was error-prone and often took days to generate reports for internal sales teams and external stakeholders.

"We have been using, believe it or not, Microsoft Access to pull all of our data out of PROPworks, put it into an Excel spreadsheet, and then try to make sure it’s accurate. And it literally took days to do that," says Jodi Gould, Alaska International Airport System Planner.

The accounting team struggled to generate timely reports, while the sales team lacked access to the data needed to engage airlines effectively. The System relied on contractors to retrieve and process data, which led to additional costs and longer timelines.

"We were hiring contractors to pull data for the sales team because the accounting department could not satisfy the need," she explains.

The System needed a reporting solution that could reduce costs, improve accuracy, and make reports easily accessible to various stakeholders.

Solution

How Jaspersoft transformed Alaska International Airport System’s reporting

The Alaska International Airport System needed a better way to track activity and generate reports. The old system took days to pull reports, and only a couple of people had access and the ability to do the reporting. This made it challenging for not only the sales team to be responsive, to serve existing accounts, and to acquire new business, but also for AIAS leadership to respond to external and internal inquiries.

That’s why they turned to Jaspersoft. With Jaspersoft, AIAS could automate reporting, reduce wait times, and make data easier to access across teams. Choosing Jaspersoft wasn’t just about upgrading software. It was about freeing up time and empowering teams with the tools to meet the needs of customers and external stakeholders. Here’s how Jaspersoft made a difference:

1. Automatic data extraction and analysis reduces report lead time from days to minutes

Before Jaspersoft, generating reports was labor-intensive and required manually extracting data from PROPworks then transferring it to Excel for final adjustments. This process took days and was prone to errors due to human input, as well a cost valuable time, and created challenges for decision-making.

With Jaspersoft, AIAS can now generate reports in minutes instead of days. Jaspersoft pulls data from multiple sources (like PROPworks) in real-time, resulting in reports that always reflect the most up-to-date information. With Jaspersoft, Jodi and her team eliminated the need for manual data extraction and transferring between Access and Excel, reducing errors and saving time.

"When we finally validated that what we were pulling out of Jaspersoft matched what we thought it should be, it was amazing because it takes minutes instead of days. We were finally done with making sure formulas and Excel spreadsheets were correct."

2. Folder-based organization expedites reporting for sales teams

Previously, only one or two individuals in the accounting team had access to the data necessary for reporting. The sales and leadership teams had to rely on email requests and wait for responses before they could access critical data, which slowed down business operations and response time to data requests.

Jaspersoft’s reporting platform enabled the System to expand access from just two users to 12. Now, many users can easily navigate and find the reports they need. Jaspersoft runs reports that are organized into well-structured folders, similar to a file system. With easy access to reports, teams are more efficient and responsive to customer needs, as they are not reliant on accounting or external contractors.

"The sales team can get reports themselves. So there’s no lag time of sending an email, waiting for a response, realizing it's not the right report, and going back and forth. That entire process is eliminated."

3. Pixel-perfect reporting generates print-ready charts for internal and external use

Prior to Jaspersoft, generating visual reports required manual formatting, which was time-consuming and often led to inconsistent visuals. Creating professional, print-ready charts is crucial for effectively communicating data and reports, especially when presenting data to airlines, government entities, and internal stakeholders.

Jaspersoft’s pixel-perfect reports generate charts that are formatted correctly and ready for printing or sharing in presentations. Charts and tables are formatted to perfectly fit the page layout, ensuring that the reports look polished and professional without manual adjustments or needing external design tools. Jaspersoft includes pre-built chart types (bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, etc.) that can be customized and exported into a number of different file formats with a single click.

"That’s another thing I really like: once you are pulling the data, you can just print that chart out, and it’s print-ready. You don’t have to doctor it. It looks professional. I mean, our carriers actually noted when we changed what we were giving them."

4. Responsive sales and technical team

Transitioning to a new reporting system required technical support and training to ensure seamless adoption. Without an engaged and knowledgeable Jaspersoft support team, implementing Jaspersoft could have been slow and arduous for AIAS employees and contractors.

The sales and technical teams at Jaspersoft were responsive throughout the implementation process. They worked closely with Alaska International Airport System’s contractors, guiding them through Jaspersoft’s capabilities and helping them optimize its use.

"Jaspersoft’s sales and technical teams have been very responsive to our contractors who had to learn the language and then try to figure out how to get what we needed."

Results

Less time spent on managing and troubleshooting manual reports allows more space for smarter decisions

Before Jaspersoft, large amounts of time were spent pulling data, fixing errors, and generating reports. Now, with automated reporting, that time has been freed up. For Jodi, this means shifting from being stuck in reporting mode to focusing on higher-level strategic planning, process improvements, and smarter decision-making about how data is used across the System.

"Now that I can just hit buttons and get a report and send it to the carriers and know that it's right, I can focus on the next round of how we want to leverage Jaspersoft."

The next big opportunity is integrating Jaspersoft with the System’s Resource Management System (RMS) to better track gate usage and carrier self-reporting. This integration will provide real-time visibility into aircraft movements, reduce manual data entry, and improve the accuracy of the System's gate usage charges.

"We want to connect Jaspersoft to the RMS system so that we can better monitor what is being self-reported by our carriers at each gate. Right now, we have to extract data from RMS, which is very laborious. That’s likely going to be the next opportunity for Jaspersoft."