Despite being a cornerstone of global connectivity, the airline industry still struggles to meet modern passenger expectations—a reality even admitted by major carriers like Ryanair and WestJet
In an age where consumers can track their online orders from warehouse to doorstep, why does their luggage’s journey remain a mystery once it disappears down the conveyor belt at check-in — sometimes leaving them to wonder if it will even arrive at their destination?
Beyond lost bags, travellers face a host of frustrations: unexplained delays, endless waiting, and being urged to head to the airport despite looming storms that threaten to cancel their flight.
In this digital era, shouldn’t airlines be equipped to solve these problems?
At a recent panel discussion at Tech Show London, both Eddie Wilson, DAC CEO of Ryanair, and Alex Cruz, vice chair of Canada’s second largest airline WestJet, spoke about the challenges the industry faces, and how these problems have pushed them toward a new era of digital transformation.
“It’s depressing to get a message from Amazon telling you they’re five minutes away from your house, and yet you can’t tell if your bag is on the plane,” admits Wilson.
Echoing this sentiment, Cruz pointed to the outdated systems still used in airline reservations.
“When you book a flight today, you’re given a six-digit alphanumeric code — a system established roughly 70 years ago.
“Remarkably, many airline commercial systems still rely on those same standards, with some carriers continuing to use software and hardware designed decades ago.”
For Cruz, this contrast between the expectations of today’s tech-savvy customers and the legacy systems many airlines still rely on is glaring.
As he puts it, “A lot of airlines’ technology resilience is lacking and has “expired”.
The CrowdStrike crunch
A notable wake-up call came last year when a security patch update from Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm, caused widespread global disruption.
For airlines, the so-called “blue screen of death” meant systems were temporarily offline, and many passengers were left stranded with little information.
For Ryanair, this glitch meant that its passenger booking system, managed via the firm Navitaire, was affected.
Its solution involved sending email lists of passengers to airports so that gate staff could manually verify who was boarding.
“We were able to keep moving even though our systems weren’t working,” Wilson recalled. However, he adds that this incident served as a reminder of the vulnerability of legacy infrastructure, prompting the airline to rethink its digital strategy.
“There is a need to host data in different environments and cloud structures to reinforce our infrastructure,” Wilson stated, acknowledging the lessons learned from the event.
Cruz highlighted the broader issue: “Historically, airline CEOs have faced a difficult choice: Do I spend a few hundred million to maintain the existing systems, or commit to a long-term project that could cost billions?”
He explains that for many years, the industry has opted for quick fixes over long-term innovation.
“Most have chosen the short-term option, patching things up year after year rather than investing in a complete overhaul.”
However, Cruz believes the tide is shifting, with the industry now realising that investing in technology is no longer optional if airlines want to stay competitive.
COVID: a catalyst for change
The COVID-19 pandemic forced airlines to confront a reality check in terms of their technological readiness.
For Ryanair, this meant an urgent need to devise a system for refunding passengers—a process that, prior to the pandemic, had not been considered a priority.
“As the largest airline in Europe, suddenly, we had no infrastructure for refunding passengers,” Wilson explains. “We had to figure out how to get money back to passengers, and we needed to control that process ourselves.”
At the time, Ryanair’s innovation hub, Ryanair Labs, stepped in to provide the solution. “They came up with the fundamental system that became the backbone for our customer service and digital solutions.
And halfway through that process, I realised that this platform is actually a game-changer for us,” Wilson added.
Manchester airport’s path to cloud migration
Since then, Ryanair Labs has grown to nearly 800 people, all focused on building better solutions for various parts of the business, from pilots and cabin crew to engineers and baggage handlers. The goal: to improve the overall passenger experience.
Cruz, reflecting on the airline industry’s historical resistance to technological investment, notes: “The reason airlines didn’t adopt these solutions earlier was that the technology investments were disconnected.
Locked up in airports, in legacy booking systems, and no one felt they could move everything at once.”
Cruz believes that creating ecosystems where technology can be integrated across the airline is invaluable. “The ability to work together and leverage technology is worth a lot.”
Taking off with digital technologies
As artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in airline operations, both Wilson and Cruz agreed that AI’s role would be to enhance the passenger experience rather than replace the human touch.
“AI will substitute, enhance, and deliver opportunities for more products and services,” says Cruz.
“But there are certain components of the travel experience – like having a pilot in the cockpit — that will always require human interaction.”
Wilson echoes this perspective, stressing that AI’s primary role is to improve efficiency, not to supplant human decision-making.
“We want to make the experience better by using AI to handle the mundane, repetitive tasks, which gives our staff more time to focus on what matters most — creating a positive experience for the passengers.”
The aim, Wilson says, is to use AI to streamline processes and offer personalised solutions for customers, all while keeping the human side of the experience intact.
Predictive maintenance
One of the most promising applications of AI within the airline industry lies in predictive maintenance, enthuses Wilson.
Rather than waiting for an aircraft component to break down, AI systems can analyse data from sensors to predict when parts might fail, enabling proactive repairs and reducing the risk of delays or safety issues.
Wilson explains: “Instead of taking a perfectly good part out of service, AI can help us avoid unnecessary downtime and delays. It’s a way to keep planes flying efficiently and safely.”
AI can also be used to optimise flight schedules and crew assignments, Wilson adds.
By analysing variables such as demand, aircraft availability, and crew regulations, airlines can maximise aircraft utilisation and reduce gaps between flights.
As Wilson notes, “We’ve managed to increase our aircraft utilisation significantly just by rearranging schedules, without changing flight slots or times.”
Safety and trust
While AI is improving operational efficiency, the discussion also turned to concerns around safety — an issue that has been magnified in recent years following high-profile incidents involving manufacturers like Boeing.
According to Wilson, Boeing’s challenges were less about technology and more about organisational and cultural issues.
“It wasn’t a tech issue; it was a people and culture issue,” he says, referring to the loss of expertise during the pandemic and management problems within Boeing’s factories.
Despite these setbacks, Wilson remains confident in the safety of the aviation industry, citing Ryanair’s long-standing use of operational flight data monitoring.
“The safety of this industry is absolutely extraordinary,” he says. “We’ve had operational flight data monitoring since 2002, and we know exactly what’s happening on all of our aircraft.”
Cruz agrees, adding that rebuilding trust in the industry will require a cultural shift rather than technological fixes. “It’s about changing the way people think and putting safety above everything else.”
As the airline industry continues its digital transformation, both Ryanair and WestJet are clear in their belief that technology, if embraced correctly, can improve the passenger experience without compromising the essential human elements that make air travel safe and reassuring.