By: Satheesh Satchit, Cofounder & CPO at Verteil Technologies
When people talk about innovation in aviation, the conversation usually centres on aircraft, airports, or the passenger experience. In reality, one of the biggest transformations is happening somewhere less visible: in the technology connecting every part of the travel ecosystem.
Every flight today depends on thousands of digital interactions before an aircraft even leaves the ground. A customer searches for an itinerary, compares fares, selects a seat, adds baggage, completes a payment, receives updates, and, if plans change, modifies the booking. Each moment depends on systems talking to one another, often across multiple organisations, markets, and platforms.
When that infrastructure works well, nobody notices it. When it does not, everyone does.
This is no longer a small back-office concern. SITA’s 2024 Air Transport IT Insights estimates airline IT spend at USD 37 billion in 2024, with airports spending another USD 8.9 billion. That level of investment reflects a simple reality: modern air travel depends as much on digital infrastructure as it does on physical infrastructure.
Passengers are already behaving this way. SITA’s 2024 Passenger IT Insights found that 90 percent of passengers use technology for bookings. Behind that simple mobile or web interaction sits a chain of airline, seller, payment, and servicing systems that must work reliably in real time.
For years, airlines have invested heavily in improving customer-facing experiences. But experience is only as good as the technology underneath it. If the underlying systems cannot support personalised offers, real-time availability, seamless servicing, or secure payments, even the best customer interface falls short.
Behind a simple flight booking are several moving parts: offer creation, order management, agency connectivity, payment processing, servicing, and settlement. These systems must work together in real time across different platforms. The traveller only sees a confirmed booking, but the reliability of that booking depends on how well these systems are connected.
At Verteil, we have seen firsthand how airline retailing is changing. Airlines no longer want to simply distribute fares. They want to retail their products the way leading digital businesses do: creating relevant offers, merchandising ancillary products intelligently, and maintaining a consistent experience across every sales channel.
Much of the discussion around IATA’s New Distribution Capability, or NDC, has focused on modernising distribution. While that is important, I see NDC as something bigger. IATA describes NDC as a data exchange format based on Offer and Order management, enabling airlines to create and distribute relevant offers to customers across channels. In practical terms, it gives airlines greater control over how they present and sell their products and more flexibility to innovate without being constrained by legacy processes.
However, technology standards alone are never enough. Their value depends on how effectively they are implemented. Offers must reach travel sellers efficiently. Bookings must be created and serviced reliably. Payments must be handled securely. Changes, refunds, and post-booking requests must be managed without unnecessary friction.
The same applies to artificial intelligence. AI can help airlines understand demand, personalise offers, and improve servicing, but only if the basics are in place. Fragmented systems and inconsistent data limit what AI can deliver.
The aviation industry has always been built on collaboration. Airlines, travel sellers, technology providers, and payment partners all play a role in delivering a single journey. The technology supporting that journey should reflect the same principle: open, connected platforms that let every participant innovate while giving travellers a consistent experience.
Perhaps the biggest mindset shift is this: technology is no longer just an operational function. It has become a commercial one. The quality of an airline’s digital infrastructure now directly influences how quickly it can launch new products, respond to market changes, and build stronger customer relationships. That is now a boardroom conversation.
Passengers may never think about the technology behind their journey, and they should not have to. But the airlines that invest in resilient, intelligent infrastructure today will be best equipped to compete tomorrow.
The future of aviation will not be defined only by what flies in the sky. It will also be shaped by the invisible technology that makes modern airline retailing possible.