2023 - and that's a wrap!

Dear Readers,

As 2023 draws to an end, we would like to thank you for following us and reading our bi-monthly newsletter, and for tuning in to our Modern Airline Retailing webinar series, which have had thousands of participants and on-demand viewers since their launch in March 2023.

It has been an important year. We have witnessed a strong momentum for the Modern Airline Retailing transformation journey with an ever-growing consensus amongst airlines and value chain partners on the critical importance that collaboration plays in achieving a successful transition.

Hear the views of IATA's Distribution Director - Yanik Hoyles, on the transition status and the value creation witnessed to date:

Before we bid 2023 goodbye, we wanted to take one last look at the past 12 months and share this short selection of highlights captured in our four editions throughout the year. 

From NDC to a world of 100% Offers and Orders  

The ubiquity and dramatic modernization of e-commerce has taken customer expectations to a brand-new level that cannot be met by the decades-old legacy standards, processes and technology currently underpinning airline indirect distribution.

While the New Distribution Capability (NDC) – now at a point of no return – is enabling airlines and partners to begin to address this disconnect, looking at NDC alone is no longer sufficient. Within the scope of Modern Airline Retailing, the focus is set on a more holistic range of standards and capabilities – a world of 100% Offers and Orders – that our industry needs to adopt to successfully complete its retailing transformation and become truly customer centric.

The broad transformational journey has been a recurrent theme and a priority discussion item in IATA messages and industry meetings throughout the year and the World Passenger Symposium, in particular.    

	Modern Airline Retailing at the 79th IATA Annual General Meeting​​​s (JUN 2023) Read more
	World Financial and World Passenger Symposium 2023 takeaways (NOV 2023) Read more
	Transition to Offers and Orders - briefing from the IATA Global Media Day (DEC 2023) Watch now

Collaboration and standards are key to realizing the vision of 100% Offers & Orders  

The theme of alignment through effective standardization and collaboration amongst all value chain players has never been clearer than over the past year. This recurrent realization and message by airlines and other groups of industry stakeholders, underpinned the takeaways from each of the IATA Advisory Councils and specialized groups meetings, as well as the Passenger Standards Conference.   

	Offers and Orders Forum 2023 - discussion highlights (MAY 2023) Read more
	Retailing Implementation Forum 2023 takeaways (SEPT 2023) Read more
	IATA Passenger Standards Conference & Standards Management Boards meeting (NOV 2023) Read more

Beyond the vision - the tangibles are here  

Effective guidance, backed with real-world experience, is a powerful ingredient for the success of any transformation. 
A Consortium of airlines who already have 100% Offers and Orders on their radar, was established in parallel with the Modern Airline Retailing program to provide insights and guidance to help accelerate the industry journey to 100% Offers and Orders.

The Consortium's three key outputs this year addressed the "Why", "What", and "How" of the industry transition to modern retailing through a timely business case, a first version of a reference architecture describing the business capabilities airlines are expected to have in the world of Offers and Orders, and finally -- a roadmap of generic transition pathways to help airlines assess how they may steer their journey. 

This thought leadership was strongly complemented by real-world implementation testimonials and deeper-dive presentations, not solely by the Consortium members, but also by the wider airline and value chain community. We have been delighted and privileged to be able to feature an ever-growing number of them in our Modern Airline Retailing webinars and Implementation Soundbites, which you can explore below.   

	Consortium Releases 2023 Read more
	Airline Retailing Implementation Stories 2023  Explore
	Modern Airline Retailing Webinars Explore

Thank you again for your readership and engagement over the past year.

We wish you and yours a Joyous Holiday Season and
a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2024!