Amadeus UK and Ireland boss Tim Russell didn't hold back when he said recently that the airline sector had a major problem on its hands because the fundamental technology on which it operates is old and in dire need of an upgrade.
On the one hand this is a rather predictable comment from a company which just happens to provide technology to the travel industry.
But the underlying premise of his comment - "some airline systems are close to breaking point" - is probably true, and many do agree to varying degrees.
Tech provider SITA says it wouldn't go as far to use the words "breaking point" but reiterates the view that much of the technology the airline industry operates is past its sell-by date.
The reason why Amadeus speaks out so strongly against the airline industry is because three areas of its technology - reservations, inventory and gate despatch - are built on systems put together decades ago.
The first two of these are seeing enormous pressure being placed on then purely due to the high number of transactions or queries being placed on the system.
The GDSs, for example, used to process about 30 transactions for every booking made on their system in the late 1990s. Nowadays, this has jumped to around 160 per booking.
It is believed the systems need to be around five or six times more powerful than they once were.
One figure close to the situation says:
The problem is that these systems - reservation and inventory systems - are large, complex and critical to the business. So airlines naturally proceed with caution when it comes to upgrading them.
Airlines will not, understandably, admit to such difficulties with their technology - but the problem remains and is in serious need of repair, says another.