Spend enough time in airline technology and you start to hear the same phrases repeated.
“NDC will fix it.”
“AI will replace half the team.”
“We just need to migrate off legacy.”
“Offer and Order is years away.”
Some of these statements contain a grain of truth. Most are dangerously oversimplified.
For CIOs, CTOs, Heads of IT and Commercial Directors, myths are not just harmless noise. They shape investment decisions, hiring strategies and long-term architecture choices. And in a market where margins are tight and competition is intense, misreading the direction of travel can cost years.
Let’s unpack a few of the biggest travel tech myths circulating right now and what is actually happening on the ground.
Myth 1: NDC is the transformation
For years, NDC has been positioned as the big disruption.
In reality, it is a protocol. A bridge.
Mark Lenahan
Over the past month alone, we have seen several major carriers accelerate their NDC distribution strategies, including expanded content agreements with global travel sellers and new direct connect partnerships focused on richer ancillary sales. The headlines make it sound like the transformation is complete. It is not.
NDC enables airlines to distribute richer content. But if the core systems behind it are still tied to PNR logic, ticket numbers and filed fares, then you are layering modern retail on top of legacy plumbing.
The real transformation sits behind NDC. It is the shift toward Offers and Orders, and eventually full OOSD capability.
That is not a distribution tweak. That is a structural rewrite of how an airline thinks about retailing, servicing and revenue management.
The uncomfortable truth is that some organisations are celebrating NDC milestones while their internal data models, order management and servicing workflows remain anchored in the old world.
This is where leadership alignment matters. Because NDC without internal transformation creates a fragile hybrid. It works, until scale exposes the cracks.
Myth 2: Legacy systems are the enemy
There is a popular narrative that legacy systems are simply outdated obstacles that need ripping out.
If only it were that simple.
Legacy platforms run global airline operations at scale, handling millions of transactions daily with resilience that most modern start-ups would struggle to replicate. They are not just old. They are battle-tested.
The challenge is not legacy itself. It is integration, translation and future-proofing.
In the past 30 days, several airline tech providers have announced AI-driven optimisation tools for operations control and disruption management. These solutions promise predictive recovery, automated reaccommodation and smarter crew adjustments.
Impressive. But most of them still rely on feeding and extracting data from legacy PSS and operational systems.
The issue is rarely the existence of legacy. It is whether you have the architecture and talent to bridge legacy and future state effectively.
We see this constantly from a recruitment perspective at Thornton Gregory. Airlines are not just asking for engineers who understand modern retail platforms. They need Business Analysts and Solution Architects who can operate in both worlds. People who can translate between old data structures and new order models without derailing programmes.
Legacy is not the enemy. Poor integration strategy is.
Myth 3: AI will reduce headcount across the board
AI is now operational in aviation. That much is clear.
In recent weeks, we have seen announcements around AI-powered customer servicing bots, predictive maintenance models being expanded across fleets, and machine learning tools enhancing revenue optimisation accuracy in volatile markets.
The noise suggests a simple equation: more AI equals fewer people.
In reality, the opposite trend is emerging at senior levels.
AI increases output. It also increases complexity.
When you automate parts of revenue management or disruption handling, you still need experienced professionals to interpret outputs, challenge assumptions and make commercial calls. AI can surface options. It does not own accountability.
The leaders who will stand out over the next few years are those who combine technical understanding with judgement, clarity and influence. The soft skills conversation is not fluffy. It is strategic.
For airline tech hiring managers, this changes the profile of key hires. You are not just looking for someone who can build or configure AI models. You need people who can embed them into commercial and operational decision-making without creating confusion or overreliance.
AI is not a headcount reduction strategy. It is a capability multiplier. But only if you hire accordingly.
Myth 4: Offer and Order is a 2030 problem
Another common misconception is that full Offer and Order transformation can sit comfortably on the long-term roadmap.
The reality feels different.
Over the last month, industry forums and technology conferences have increasingly shifted tone. The conversation is no longer about whether Offer and Order will happen. It is about sequencing, vendor alignment and risk mitigation during transition.
Airlines that delay internal capability building risk finding themselves dependent on third parties for core retail logic. That may work in the short term. In the long term, it limits differentiation.
Offer and Order is not just an IT programme. It touches revenue management, digital, servicing, accounting and reporting. It changes how commercial teams think about product design and pricing.
For Heads of Commercial and Revenue, this is not abstract architecture. It directly impacts your ability to bundle dynamically, test new ancillaries and react to competitor moves in real time.
Waiting until everything is “proven” is understandable. It is also how you fall behind.
Myth 5: Hiring can wait until the roadmap is clear
In uncertain transformation cycles, there is a temptation to pause hiring.
Consolidate. Wait. See how the market moves.
But travel tech does not stand still. Over the past 30 days alone, we have seen fresh investment into airline retail platforms, cybersecurity upgrades following increased scrutiny on critical infrastructure, and further AI adoption in operations.
Programmes are moving.
The real risk is not hiring too early. It is hiring reactively, once the pressure is on.
From our vantage point working specifically within airline and airline tech recruitment at Thornton Gregory, the gap is widening between organisations that build capability ahead of transformation and those that scramble mid-programme.
The most in-demand profiles right now sit at the intersection of commercial and technical. Leaders who understand OOSD principles, digital retail strategy and the operational constraints of real-world airlines.
Competition for that talent is sharp. And it is only going one way.
So what actually matters?
Strip away the myths and a few themes become clear.
First, integration beats ideology. It is not legacy versus modern. It is about connecting them intelligently.
Second, capability beats hype. AI, NDC and Offer and Order are powerful. But without the right people interpreting and implementing them, they are just expensive initiatives.
Third, timing matters. Transformation is multi-year, but groundwork starts early. The airlines gaining ground are those aligning commercial and IT leadership now, not in three years’ time.
Travel tech is not short of innovation. It is short of clarity.
And clarity, more often than not, comes down to leadership decisions and the teams behind them.
