Offer & Order Transformation Needs a Practical Approach

The airline industry is spending a lot of time talking about Offer & Order, NDC and modern retailing. The direction is obvious enough, but for many smaller airlines the real challenge is working out how to get there without creating massive operational headaches along the way.

A recent independent T2RL report on TIK Systems’ oops.solution caught my eye because it focuses on something the industry sometimes overlooks — airlines are going to be operating in a hybrid world for quite a while yet.

Legacy PNRs, tickets and EDIFACT messaging are not disappearing anytime soon. In aviation, “legacy” quite often means “still absolutely essential”.

I’m currently involved in a project with TIK Systems and it’s been great reconnecting with Roland Heller, who I first worked with back in the early 2000s when I was involved with Aurigny. At the time we were moving away from BABS (yes, really that long ago…) and implementing Roland’s earlier system.

Even then, Roland had a very clear and practical view of where airline technology needed to go. He understands that systems have to work for real airlines dealing with real operational pressures, not just look good in strategy presentations. It’s been great to work alongside him again on this project and see that same thinking still there.

What I particularly liked in the T2RL report was the focus on bridging the “old” and the “new”.

Because the hard part usually isn’t the new retailing model itself. It’s making everything work together while keeping the operation running smoothly at the same time.

One thing that also strikes me about the move toward OOSD and modern retailing is that the industry conversation often assumes airlines will build “best of breed” environments using multiple specialist modules and vendors.

That may work for some larger carriers, but for many smaller airlines the reality is very different.

Most Tier 3 and Tier 4 airlines simply won’t have the financial option — or operational appetite — to build and maintain heavily modular environments with endless integrations and consultancy projects.

In reality, many smaller airlines will be looking for one solution that offers the best overall operational fit, rather than “the best” individual module in every area.

After more than 35 years around airline technology and distribution, I’ve seen enough projects to know that successful transformation is normally about being practical, realistic and understanding how airlines actually operate day to day.

There are plenty of people in this industry with far deeper technical knowledge than me, but one thing experience does give you is perspective — especially around what works operationally and what airlines can realistically deliver.

The industry will absolutely move further toward Offer & Order models, but smaller airlines especially will need sensible transition paths rather than big bang replacements.

That’s why it’s interesting to see solutions being built with that reality in mind.