AI represents a significant opportunity for airlines seeking to widen distribution and boost revenue. At Aviation Festival Americas 2026, Schafer Newman, Strategy Insights & Planning Manager at expert consultancy ZS, shared his thoughts on AI search, improved retailing, and more that can be achieved through considered integration of the tech.

LLM chatbots represent one of the biggest risks for airlines, who have spent twenty years developing strategies for to maximise digital booking through Internet search and OTAs. Yet now half of customers are using Gen AI such as ChatGPT, which in time looks set to become one of the primary sources for information on travel. Newman notes that airlines need to find new ways to improve their visibility on these platforms:

The risk is not really about disintermediation, it’s more about being invisible to those AI platforms. I think right up front in discovery, inspiration, and shopping, the goal is to make sure that your airline is showing up the way that you want it to show up.

For many, this will require a significant mindset shift and reorientation of resources. Legacy models have produced lots of siloed teams, but Newman advises airlines to break down these barriers to achieve a more cohesive retail experience.

We need to think about how to be more collaborative. How do we bring in loyalty, revenue management, distribution, and IT leaders so that we can show up for customers regardless of what channel they choose to shop in, whether it’s direct or indirect or one of the new AI platforms?
Airlines who are leading in AI have focused on how they can build better experiences across the board, from booking to boarding. While specific use cases can help save money, the aviation leaders of the future won’t be using AI to plug gaps but integrating it systematically. Newman concludes:
The folks that are at the cutting edge are the ones who are thinking about not just cost savings or efficiency plays, but how to grow their margins, serve their customers better, and and grow the top line as well.
🎥 Watch the video to get the full interview with Schafer Newman.

Questions asked include:

  • As AI intermediates more of the journey, where do you see the biggest risks to revenue and margin if companies don’t adapt quickly? 
  • There’s a lot of experimentation happening across the industry. What separates airlines that are just testing AI from those that are starting to see real commercial impact? 
  • For leaders across marketing, distribution, and loyalty in this room, what’s the one mindset shift they need to make now to stay competitive as retailing continues to evolve?

Join us at World Aviation Festival 2026 to discuss the impact of AI.

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