Why the next airline tech race will reward commercial discipline over spending

The airline industry continues to operate in a challenging environment.

Despite strong passenger demand, airlines remain exposed to thin margins, rising operating costs, aircraft delivery delays and geopolitical disruptions. The International Air Transport Association’s 2026 outlook illustrates how quickly the economics can change: Its initial forecast of $41 billion in global airline net profit was later revised down to $23 billion as higher fuel prices and operational disruptions put additional pressure on the industry.

At the same time, technology remains high on the airline agenda. Artificial intelligence (AI), personalization, digital channels, customer platforms and advanced analytics continue to attract investment. But as financial pressure increases, the focus will be on how effectively airlines turn investment into business value.

And this requires changing the starting point of technology investment.

From edge to core

Airline technology investments can broadly be viewed through two layers, the edge and the core.

The edge is where value becomes visible: customer relationship management software, customer data platforms, AI applications, personalization, dynamic pricing, ancillary solutions, digital products and customer-facing tools.

The core is where that value becomes possible: infrastructure, architecture, cloud, storage, data, data quality, governance, integration and internal capabilities.

The distinction matters because the edge is naturally more attractive. Its impact is easier to see. A new personalization capability, an AI use case or a new digital product can be directly connected to a customer or revenue outcome.

But as technology environments become more complex, investing in the edge without strengthening the core can create a growing collection of individual solutions rather than a connected technology ecosystem. One team may implement an AI use case, another may introduce a personalization platform, marketing may operate through another system, customer service through another, while revenue management relies on its own data and models. Each investment may make sense independently. But if the underlying systems, data and architecture are not designed to work together, every new solution adds another layer of complexity.

This is why I believe the next phase of airline technology investment needs to shift from the edge to the core layer.

This does not mean investing less in technology. It means changing the starting point of investment.

The core creates strategic flexibility

A strong core provides real value by giving an airline greater freedom to decide what comes next.

When data, architecture, integration, governance and internal capabilities are connected, technology investments no longer have to be shaped around the limitations of existing systems. The starting point can move back to the business need: What are we trying to achieve, what capability do we need and which technology can deliver it most effectively?

This changes the role of technology vendors as well. Vendor strategy should not define business strategy. Business strategy should define vendor choice. An airline with a strong core can evaluate new technologies based on their ability to solve a business problem, rather than choosing them because they fit a fragmented technology landscape.

This is particularly important as the technology market continues to evolve. New AI capabilities, customer platforms, automation tools and digital solutions will continue to emerge. The goal is to build a core that allows the airline to adopt, integrate and scale the technologies that do.

A strong core is therefore not a project that has to be “completed” before an airline can invest in the edge. Core and edge need to evolve together. The objective is to build enough core to make each new layer of investment more scalable, connected and commercially purposeful.

In that sense, the core is not simply the foundation beneath technology. It becomes a source of strategic flexibility—preserving an airline’s ability to choose, adapt and invest as the business and technology landscape changes.

When the core becomes a commercial asset

The value of a strong core does not stop at better technology investment. As airlines develop stronger data, digital channels and customer capabilities, their core can begin to create entirely new commercial opportunities.

An airline knows far more about its customers than most businesses: where they travel, when they travel, which destinations they consider, what stage of the journey they are in and, in many cases, what products and services are relevant to them. That customer understanding is valuable not only to the airline itself but potentially to companies that want to reach those customers with relevant offers.

This model is already emerging in aviation.

Airlines such as United Airlines, SAS are increasingly turning first-party data and digital channels into media and advertising capabilities, enabling brands to reach relevant audiences with more personalized offers.

These examples point to a broader shift. The data and technology infrastructure originally built to improve internal operations, customer experience and decision-making can increasingly become a commercial capability in its own right.

The evolution has moved beyond using data for reporting, analytics and decision-making, and it is now about turning data into deeper customer understanding, activating that knowledge across the business and ultimately creating commercial value. That may be one of the most important long-term returns of investing in the core.

The core starts as a foundation for technology. It then becomes an enabler of flexibility and efficiency. And ultimately, it can become a platform for creating new products, partnerships and revenue streams.

Where will the next race be?

Technology investment will remain essential to the future of aviation. But in an environment where financial discipline matters more and technology choices continue to expand, the competitive question will increasingly be about what sits beneath those investments.

A strong core enables airlines to connect technology investment to business strategy, respond to new needs with greater flexibility and turn individual solutions into a more coherent technology ecosystem. And beyond efficiency, it can create something even more valuable: the ability to turn the airline’s own data, customer understanding and digital capabilities into new commercial opportunities. The next airline technology race, therefore, may not be about who buys more technology, deploys more AI or operates more platforms.

It will be about who builds the stronger core layer and who can turn that core into greater business value.

Because the technology leaders of the next decade may not simply be the airlines that adopt new technologies first. They may be the ones that know where to put them.