A lot has happened since Alex Zoghlin joined ATPCO, the airfare-filing business that is reinventing itself to become a wider airline distribution and retailing service.
Not only has the airline sector been faced with a once-in-a-generation levels of disruption and anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic but the processes behind the scenes are also under a huge amount of change.
How fares are distributed between carriers, intermediaries, global distribution systems, other sellers and passengers is no longer just about providing the right price and sending them the correct ticket - airlines and partners want to provide additional services and "improve the overall passenger experience," to paraphrase every slogan shared by the ecosystems players these days.
This is a tricky thing to do, especially when an airline-owned organization at the heart of the process like ATPCO can be, as Zoghlin concedes, still "hard to work with."
But change is coming and the hurdles that remain to transform the aviation into a modern, retail-led sector like countless other industries are gradually lowering.
Zoghlin might be relatively new to ATPCO but he's has a storied history in numerous parts of the industry.
After an early phase of his career spent in the consulting world, Zoghlin was a founder and chief technology officer at Orbitz in 1999, before heading up one of the so-called "Genies" (mini-GDSs) in the form of G2 Switchworks in 2004 to 2008 (later sold to Travelport)
Zoghlin also spent six years in the hotel sector, having two executive roles on the technology side at Hyatt Hotels.
During The Phocuswright Conference 2021, Zoghlin joined us in the PhocusWire Studio to discuss the latest developments in the progress toward a retail-based future for airline distribution and reflect on some of those other jobs in the last 20+ years.
The full interview with PhocusWire's Kevin May is included below...
Executive Inteview: ATPCO's Alex Zoghlin on travel distribution and a life in digital