Could you tell us about Accelya?
Accelya is a global leader in airline software, powering Amazon鈥憀ike retailing for over 200 airlines. From Qantas in the East to Hawaiian in the West, and with giants like Emirates, Lufthansa, and American, the world鈥檚 most important airlines are being powered by Accelya.
We put passengers at the heart of the experience, boosting margins and profitability for our customers.
For too long, airlines were held back by clunky legacy systems. Ten years ago, if you booked a multi鈥憀eg trip and added a bag last minute, the bag was treated as a separate transaction 鈥� so if your first flight changed, your bag didn鈥檛 automatically follow.
With our FLX ONE Platform, all of that is unified. Just like shopping on Amazon, everything sits in 鈥渙ne order鈥� 鈥� flights, ancillaries, and services 鈥� giving airlines full control of their Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver journey.
What excites me most is the timing. AI is transforming airline retailing right now. It鈥檚 a catapult for value creation, enabling use cases with Acellya鈥檚 AIVIATOR, we couldn鈥檛 even imagine before 鈥� from real鈥憈ime dynamic offers to agentic autonomous servicing.
Exciting times for Accelya and the Airline industry with the 鈥榦ne order鈥� and 鈥楢I鈥� combined transformation.
What do you think makes this company unique?
It comes down to three things: being open, being modular, and being cutting鈥慹dge with cloud鈥憂ative and AI鈥憄owered technology.
Replacing legacy airline tech is one of the hardest challenges in travel. That鈥檚 why our FLX ONE Platform is designed to integrate seamlessly, letting airlines modernize at their own pace 鈥� picking only the modules they need, without being locked into rigid contracts or hidden fees. Truly modular!
And the key is, we鈥檝e been doing this from the very start 鈥� since 1998, when we helped power the NDC specification with IATA. We are doing the same with 鈥榦ne order鈥�. Openness is in our DNA.
What makes my team鈥檚 job truly exciting is applying these unique differentiators and cutting-edge tech like cloud and AI, to deliver real customer value.
More from Interviews
- A Chat With Madhu Nadig, Co-Founder & CTO Of Flagright And FinTech50 2026 Judge
- A Chat With Piero Pavone, CEO Of Preciso On How Native Advertising Is Shaping A More Sustainable Future
- Efficient Referrals: Meet Kirsty Sharman, Founder Of Referral Factory
- A Chat With Jo茫o Moura, CEO And Co-Founder, On Transaction Risk Platform: Fraudio
- A Chat With Michael J Bannach, Founder & President, Stealth Technology Group On How Employees Leak Company Secrets Into Chatbots 鈥� And What Safe, Approved AI Should Look Like
- A Conversation With Allister Frost, Future-Ready Mindset Author and Speaker, On How AI Panic Is Pushing Brits Into Rushed Career Swaps That Could Prove Costly
- Interview With Yuliya Barabash, Founder Of SBSB Fintech Lawyers On Where Crypto Companies Actually Win in 2026
- A Chat With Avion Gray (CEO) And Samantha Rosenberg (COO), Co-Founders Of Belong On Wealth Building
How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?
Whether it鈥檚 species or companies, evolution is the key to survival and leadership. At Accelya, we鈥檝e been deliberately strategic in evolving to stay not just relevant, but indispensable.
I鈥檇 frame it on two planes: product value and technology.
On product value:
Accelya pioneered New Distribution Capability (NDC) 鈥� the standard that allows airlines to distribute fares and ancillaries dynamically to agents, corporate buyers, and partners. Today, we power over half of all global NDC transactions, trusted for our scale, resilience, and commercial agility. Airlines count on us not just for fares, but for merchandising across ancillaries that expand horizons for both passengers and airlines.
Last year, we launched the FLX ONE Platform 鈥� an open, API鈥慸riven retailing backbone. It gives airlines full control across the 鈥榦ne order鈥� Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver journey: from creating rich, dynamic offers to real鈥憈ime order management, seamless settlement, and frictionless airport experiences. We鈥檙e unifying everything 鈥� even cargo 鈥� into one modular, open architecture.
On technology:
Here鈥檚 a telling start: 47% of S&P 500 companies referenced AI in quarterly reports, not one of them was an airline. That鈥檚 where Accelya is changing the game. We launched FLX AIViator, AI to deliver real ROI, not hype.
This isn鈥檛 experimental. We track usage daily, focusing on measurable value: smarter decisions across commercial, cargo, finance, and operations. Throughout my career at HP, Google, Samsung, and Qualys, I鈥檝e been driven by a single goal: build differentiated technology that delivers customer value and impact. That鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檙e doing with AIViator.
What makes this journey exciting is the validation from airlines worldwide.
The airline trust confirms our evolution toward an open, modular, cloud鈥憂ative, AI鈥憄owered ONE Order world is the right path forward in our evolution.
What can we hope to see from Accelya in the future?
Expect to see us driving the next wave of airline retail innovation. Research shows two thirds (66%) of airlines have implemented NDC, with distribution expected to triple over the next three years.
To remain competitive and be in with the times, airlines must proactively evolve 鈥� and that is where Accelya comes in. The transition for airlines to a cloud native and AI powered 鈥榦ne order鈥� will not be an easy one, but you鈥檒l see us empowering airlines to move at their own pace, enabling new use cases, we never thought was possible before. We will also do in an open and modular fashion working with airlines, our competition and our partners 鈥� evolving IATA specifications.
The transformation is underway rapidly and we鈥檙e proud to be at heart of this shift, supporting airlines 2to unlock new revenue and deliver smarter, seamless retailing.
