Case Study – Oracle Support Optimization: American Airlines Reduces Oracle Spend by $12M Over 3 Years
Background
American Airlines, one of the world’s largest airline carriers, operates more than 6,000 daily flights and serves over 200 million passengers annually.
With over 120,000 employees and complex operations across scheduling, maintenance, loyalty, and customer experience, its IT infrastructure spans decades of investment in both modern and legacy systems.
At the core of this infrastructure sat a wide portfolio of Oracle products, including Oracle Database, Oracle WebLogic, Siebel CRM, and Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS).
These platforms supported everything from customer service to HR, reservations, and financials. Over the years, licensing accumulation and support dependencies had led to an annual Oracle spend exceeding $15 million.
Looking to modernize selectively and reduce technical debt, American Airlines engaged Redress Compliance to develop a strategy for reducing its Oracle footprint and supporting cost optimization. The result: a controlled migration to third-party support, significant license termination, and $12 million in savings over 3 years.
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Challenges
American Airlines faced a set of familiar but difficult challenges for a global Oracle customer:
- Sky-High Support Costs: Oracle support fees exceeded $15M annually, covering a large mix of legacy and underutilized applications.
- Redundant or Frozen Applications: Several Oracle systems, including Siebel CRM and EBS modules, had limited change activity, yet still incurred full support charges.
- Rigid Contracts: Oracle refused to entertain partial support reductions or scaled pricing based on actual usage.
- Internal Complexity: With dozens of business units utilizing Oracle technology in various ways, it was unclear where real optimization opportunities existed.
- Vendor Pressure: Oracle’s response was predictable—pushing cloud migration and bundled renewals that only increased lock-in.
- Audit Anxiety: Any attempt to change support arrangements raised internal fears of compliance issues or Oracle audits.
What American Airlines needed was a precise, risk-aware strategy—one that could balance long-term modernization goals with near-term cost relief.
How Redress Compliance Helped
Redress Compliance was engaged to deliver a structured, end-to-end Oracle support optimization program—spanning license assessment, strategy development, and execution.
1. License Usage & Entitlement Analysis
Redress began with a full audit of Oracle license usage across America’s environments. We:
- Catalogued all active and historical Oracle deployments across Siebel, EBS, WebLogic, and core database technology
- Reviewed entitlement rights, past ULA certifications, and contract language
- Mapped usage by product, business unit, and geography to identify underutilized or obsolete licenses
The results were clear: a substantial portion of the Oracle estate was either no longer in use or running in frozen legacy systems with no need for updates or active vendor support.
2. Optimization Strategy and Scenario Planning
Redress developed multiple optimization scenarios, comparing:
- Oracle’s renewal offer vs. third-party support models
- Partial license termination paths
- Patching and risk strategies under third-party providers
- Cost savings vs. compliance and operational requirements
We led stakeholder workshops with IT, procurement, finance, and legal to establish internal alignment and clarity of decision-making. The preferred path: move legacy workloads to third-party support, and terminate redundant Oracle licenses.
3. Contractual Strategy & Risk Control
Redress supported American Airlines in executing the transition with full compliance protection. We:
- Helped formally terminate licenses no longer in use
- Supported vendor negotiations and third-party support onboarding
- Built an internal governance framework to manage Oracle licensing in the future
- Created documentation to defend entitlements in case of future vendor inquiries
Importantly, Redress ensured the approach was defensible, compliant, and commercially watertight—giving American Airlines full confidence in its execution.
Outcome and Impact
The results delivered clear, quantifiable benefits:
- $4 million saved annually by eliminating unused Oracle licenses and switching to third-party support
- $12 million total savings over 3 years, without impacting operations or regulatory requirements
- Significant footprint reduction, with Oracle reliance cut by more than 50% in targeted systems
- Zero compliance issues, with clear entitlement records and usage boundaries
- Improved vendor independence, enabling better leverage for future modernization initiatives
By engaging Redress Compliance, American Airlines transformed Oracle support from a fixed overhead into a strategically managed cost center.
Client Quote
“Redress Compliance gave us more than just cost savings—they gave us clarity and control. Their licensing expertise and structured approach helped us reduce unnecessary Oracle spend without any risk to operations or compliance. Moving to third-party support for legacy systems was the right decision, and we couldn’t have done it with confidence without their guidance.”
— VP of IT Sourcing, American Airlines
Call-to-Action
Struggling with rising Oracle support costs across EBS, Siebel, or middleware? Redress Compliance helps global enterprises like American Airlines reduce spend, eliminate unused licenses, and regain control.
Book your Oracle support optimization assessment today.
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