Delivery lift-off for an airline turnaround
PQ partnered with an international airline to establish a Project Delivery Office (PDO) at a pivotal moment of renewal. With a large pipeline of digital and technology investments accelerating, we helped turn ambition into a clear, scalable delivery system — giving leaders confidence, teams a shared method, and the organisation the delivery muscle to execute a multi-year turnaround.
$450M
150+
1
Transformation portfolio
Delivery resources aligned
Delivery system
The Challenge
As transformation scaled rapidly, delivery needed a reset:
Low confidence in the portfolio. The investment inventory and financial baselines weren’t defined and consistent enough to support decision making or trusted reporting.
No shared delivery language. Teams didn’t have a common “way of working”, processes were unclear and consultation expectations weren’t consistent.
Priority initiatives under strain. Several major programs needed tighter governance and re-shaping to restore momentum.
Rapid ramp-up raised risk. New project contractors were joining fast and needed a clear, practical delivery model to integrate smoothly.
The Approach
PQ acted as the interim PDO build and stabilisation team, working side-by-side with IT, business leaders and Finance:
Set the foundations. Defined how all improvement work was classified, who owns what, and which forums and gates drive decisions.
Rebuilt and baselined the portfolio. Cleaned and re-catalogued initiatives against the new standards to establish a credible single source of truth.
Designed the end-to-end lifecycle. Integrated operations, architecture, business and finance touchpoints into one coherent delivery pathway.
Stabilised priority work and embedded BAU. Reviewed major initiatives, reshaped plans where needed, and trained/coached teams so the “VA way” became everyday practice — including the rapidly growing delivery cohort.
The Outcomes
The PDO gave the airline a dependable platform for transformation:
Trusted portfolio visibility and investment discipline. Clear ownership, clean baselines and decision-ready reporting.
One repeatable delivery method. A shared lifecycle understood across IT and business.
Stronger project health. Priority initiatives stabilised with clearer governance and execution rhythm.
Faster, safer ramp-up of capability. New delivery resources onboarded into a consistent model from day one.
These foundations supported a multi-year turnaround, $400M of investments in digital and customer experience, a successful return to public markets and sustained profitability and competitiveness.