GOL Airlines: Elevating Trust at 35,000 Feet

Impact at a Glance

• Vendor approvals reduced from 30 days to as little as 0–5 days
• Data subject requests reduced from 14–15 days to minutes
• Executive reporting accelerated from weeks to minutes
• Centralized governance across global operations
• Improved regulatory confidence and decision-making
• Shift from reactive to proactive compliance

A Legacy Built on Accessibility and Innovation

For more than 25 years, GOL Airlines has redefined air travel in Brazil and across Latin America. Founded with a mission to make flying accessible to more people, the airline has grown into one of the region’s leading carriers, connecting millions of passengers across continents with efficiency and reliability. 

“When we look at the company 25 years ago and what we have now, the future is brilliant,” says Bruna Boccini, Head of Compliance and Data Protection Officer at GOL. “We are moving forward, expanding the company, bringing new opportunities to our customers without losing our business model—to make air travel more accessible.” 
 
Today, GOL’s ambitions extend far beyond its Brazilian roots. With expanding routes into North America and Europe, the airline continues to scale its global footprint while preserving the simplicity and efficiency that define its brand.

Where Safety, Compliance, and Trust Converge

Aviation is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world. Every flight depends on a vast ecosystem of systems, partners, and processes operating in perfect harmony. Behind the scenes, compliance and data governance play a critical role in ensuring passenger safety and confidence.

“Compliance is the central core of our operations,” Bruna explains. “Not only because we are a highly regulated industry, but also because we manage safety, information security, anti-corruption, legal requirements, and data privacy.” 
 
“Trust for aviation is everything,” she adds. “Passengers expect not only the best service, but also that we protect their personal and sensitive information throughout their journey.”

Navigating the Complexity of Data in Aviation

As GOL expanded, so did the complexity of managing sensitive data across its operations. From customer records to vendor ecosystems, the airline faced mounting challenges in ensuring transparency, compliance, and efficiency. 

“Managing privacy and data in the airline industry is very complicated,” says Guilherme, Privacy Coordinator at GOL. “We manage thousands of data flows, vendors, partners, and systems.” 
 
“When we connected our databases, we discovered we had almost seven billion IDs in storage,” he explains. “That was a defining moment. We knew we needed a more robust and centralized platform.” 

When Manual Governance Could No Longer Scale

Before implementing OneTrust, GOL relied on spreadsheets and fragmented systems to manage privacy and compliance processes. These manual workflows slowed operations and created inefficiencies across departments. 
 
“We had spreadsheets, manual workflows, and a dependency on individual knowledge rather than integrated systems,” Bruna recalls. 
 
Guilherme adds, “We didn’t have a single platform to understand and manage the entire data flow. It was challenging to track everything from beginning to end.”

Building a Proactive Compliance Framework With OneTrust 

To modernize its privacy and compliance programs, GOL implemented the OneTrust platform. The goal was clear: centralize governance, automate manual processes, and embed compliance into every aspect of the business. 
 
“We were looking for a solution that could help us in different ways—not only from a data privacy perspective, but also related to third-party management and governance,” Bruna explains. 
 
“We changed our approach from reactive to proactive. Now, compliance is built into everything we do.”

Delivering Measurable Business Impact 

The results were immediate and transformative, empowering GOL to operate with greater agility and confidence. 
 
“Before OneTrust, we took almost 30 days to approve or deny a vendor,” Guilherme explains. “Now, it takes between zero and five days.” 
 
“Previously, we needed 14 to 15 days to complete a data request,” he adds. “Now, it takes just minutes.” 
 
“Sometimes we took two or three weeks to prepare reports,” says Bruna. “Now, in just a few minutes, we have the information to share with executives.”

Strengthening Trust at Scale 

Beyond operational efficiencies, OneTrust has reinforced GOL’s ability to build and maintain trust with passengers, partners, and regulators. 
 
“OneTrust gave us the structure to provide trust to our customers,” Bruna says. “It ensures their data is protected and used responsibly.”

Preparing for the Future of Aviation 

As GOL expands its international footprint, data governance will remain central to its strategy. But the airline is also exploring emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, with a strong focus on responsible innovation. GOL has added OneTrust’s AI Governance to its suite of services as it continues to increase daily flights, processes and growth of their brand and its reputation.  
 
“AI is a tool to improve processes and make them more efficient,” Bruna notes. “But we will always maintain human oversight because we are dealing with human lives.” 
 
“The future is brilliant. We are expanding our reach while continuing to make air travel more accessible—just as we have for the past 25 years.”

Learn More 

Discover how OneTrust helps organizations centralize governance, automate compliance, and build trust at scale.