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Airlines’ AI ambitions blocked by legacy technology foundations
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An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterAirlines are bleeding billions of dollars every year, not from fuel prices or labor costs, but from legacy technology that cannot cope with the complexity of global aviation today.
Modern operations generate massive volumes of data and demand real-time coordination across partners and customers. Outdated systems simply cannot deliver that.
Chris BranaganSocial Links NavigationChief Technology Officer at IBS Software.
According to industry surveys, 80% of airlines now see legacy IT as a significant operational barrier, up sharply from 65% in 2019. These systems are not just inefficient; they are a risk that undermines reliability, resilience, and customer trust.
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This matters because airline profit margins are notoriously thin. In 2026, global carriers are expected to operate with a net margin below 4 %, even as total revenues exceed $1 trillion.
As Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has pointed out, airlines will make just $7.90 per passenger on average - less than Apple earns selling an iPhone cover.
Despite sitting at the heart of a value chain that underpins nearly 4% of the global economy, airline profitability remains fundamentally out of balance, leaving little room to absorb shocks or invest in transformation.
At the same time, forward-looking research suggests that AI could help the aviation sector can realize up to $42 billion in savings by 2035 through smarter automation, dynamic planning, and predictive operations. Yet this promise will remain unrealized if airlines cannot escape the bottlenecks imposed by legacy architecture.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.The hidden human cost
Behind every delay and disruption are real people. Passengers are stranded in terminals. Ground crews are scrambling. Operations teams are firefighting instead of optimizing. The aviation industry generates enormous amounts of data.
Modern aircraft like the Airbus A350 can produce terabytes of operational data per flight day, and annual aircraft data generation is projected to reach eye-watering levels as sensor and connectivity volumes surge. Yet most airlines lack the systems to harness this data in real time.
AI is already delivering value in pockets. Predictive maintenance has reduced unscheduled repairs and downtime by significant margins, fuel optimization has yielded measurable savings, and dynamic pricing engines are unlocking incremental revenue.
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In some implementations, airlines using machine learning have reported operational cost reductions of up to 20% and maintenance downtime reductions of up to 30%.
But these successes remain isolated. They rarely scale because analytics and AI cannot fully integrate with core operational systems that still rely on manual processes, batch updates, and siloed data stores.
The real barrier is organizational, not technological
Too many airlines treat AI as a silver bullet - a feature to be added on top of existing systems. The real issue is that legacy systems were never designed for the speed, scale, and complexity of modern AI-driven operations.
They cannot support real-time feedback loops, dynamic decisioning, or cross-domain data sharing. Downtime from failed system upgrades alone can cost airlines hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour, highlighting how brittle these foundations have become.
Inertia within airline IT portfolios is not accidental. These systems underpin safety-critical functions, so risk aversion is understandable.
But risk aversion can become risk blindness. Holding on to decades-old architecture in the hopes that incremental upgrades will suffice is a strategy that delays the inevitable transformation and amplifies future costs.
What changes the game
The eureka moment for carriers comes when they reframe AI not as a cost-cutting gimmick but as an enabler of resilience, experience, and strategic advantage. AI can predict disruptions hours before they cascade into delays.
It can optimize ancillary packages, crew, fuel, and routing with fewer human interventions. But it can only do this when the systems it feeds on are real-time, modular, and interoperable.
This means embracing modern platforms built for continuous intelligence: cloud-native systems, API-first architectures, modular order-and-offer management frameworks, and real-time data fabrics that unify operations, customer engagement, and revenue management.
Some airlines are already moving in this direction, adopting cloud compute at scale and reengineering core workflows to support continuous pricing and personalized retailing.
Equally critical is leadership commitment. This transformation is not a line-item in the IT budget. It is a strategic shift that affects every function - from network planning to loyalty programs.
Boards and executives must articulate a clear, compelling vision of an AI-ready airline, and then invest in the organizational and cultural changes needed to realize it.
The reward for getting it right
Airlines that make this shift escape the cycle of reactive crisis management. They anticipate and mitigate disruption in real time. They personalize services with the same agility as leading digital retailers. They build operational resilience that earns customer trust and durable competitive advantage.
In the decade ahead, the carriers that succeed will not be those that simply “use AI.” They will be the ones that become genuinely AI-first: pairing human judgement with systems that learn, adapt, and act at the speed of events. For an industry operating on razor-thin margins and fragile reliability, that is not optional. It is essential.
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TOPICS AI Chris BranaganSocial Links NavigationChief Technology Officer at IBS Software.
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