Inside China Air’s DevOps Success: How the Airline Earned Advanced Continuous Delivery Standards

On May 29, 2024, the Central Cyberspace Administration, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the Information Standard Construction Action Plan (2024‑2027) , emphasizing the promotion of internationalization of information standards, deep participation in ISO, IEC, ITU and other international standard bodies, and the alignment of national and international standards.

The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) launched a synchronized assessment based on the ITU DevOps international standard and the domestic DevOps standard, enabling mutual recognition of international and domestic standards. This assessment is a key implementation of the Action Plan.

On June 27, 2025, at the 26th GOPS Global Operations Conference in Beijing, CAICT announced the results of the 33rd batch of dual‑certificate assessments for ITU DevOps international standards and domestic DevOps standards.

China International Airlines (Air China) participated with the project “Air China New Retail Platform – Original Channel Refund System”. The project passed the Level 2 Continuous Delivery assessment of CAICT’s R&D‑Operations Integrated (DevOps) Capability Maturity Model , indicating that the airline’s DevOps capabilities have reached an advanced domestic level.

Q: Please introduce yourself, your company, and the project you evaluated.

Air China, founded in 1988, is the only civil airline flying the national flag. The evaluated system supports refunds across multiple payment channels, integrates code table management, maintenance, refund management, and approval functions, breaks down business system silos, streamlines ticket refunds, reduces manual processing, improves frontline efficiency, and lowers service risk.

Q: How do you feel about passing the DevOps standard assessment at Level 2?

We thank CAICT and the expert panel for their guidance. The assessment helped us accumulate valuable experience in development‑delivery process management and DevOps tool capabilities, laying a solid foundation for continuous improvement and reinforcing our digital transformation.

Q: Why did your company decide to join the DevOps standard assessment?

DevOps accelerates digital transformation, moving from traditional project delivery to product‑oriented operation. The assessment aligns with national policies, helps us standardize processes, improve efficiency, and provides a clear roadmap for building a stable, agile, secure, and transparent technical system.

Q: What benefits has the DevOps assessment brought to your enterprise and team?

The assessment guided us to standardize and optimize our R&D‑operations processes, enhanced our professional capabilities, provided targeted feedback for continuous improvement, increased our industry visibility, and promoted better collaboration and efficiency within the team.

Q: What data indicators show the project’s improvement after the assessment?

See the chart below for detailed metrics.

Q: What are the key technical features of the evaluated IT system and how was it designed?

The system integrates numerous external interfaces, consolidates payment channels, and provides a unified customer view and product library to enable a one‑stop intelligent aviation retail platform. A standardized interface definition was established to ensure efficient, accurate data exchange, improve integration efficiency, and reduce maintenance costs.

Q: Was the assessment process smooth? What difficulties did you encounter and how were they resolved?

The process was generally smooth, but we faced challenges such as insufficient early understanding of DevOps standards among team members and limitations in our DevOps tool platform. We addressed these by strengthening training, inviting experts, and optimizing the tool platform with a dedicated expert team.

Q: What is the biggest gain from this year’s DevOps implementation and what are your next steps?

The biggest gain is a significant improvement in R&D‑operations efficiency, shorter delivery cycles, and reduced project risk. Our next steps include deepening DevOps practice across more projects, learning from industry peers, exploring new DevOps technologies, and applying for Level 3 Continuous Delivery assessment.

Q: How do you view the future development of DevOps?

DevOps will continue to be a crucial driver of digital transformation, increasingly integrating AI, ChatOps, and BizDevOps/FinOps to form a “digital iron triangle” that enhances efficiency, reliability, and cost optimization.