The aviation, payments and distribution sector can expect more disruption from outside of the industry, UATP president and chief executive Ralph Kaiser told the UATP Airline Distribution 2026 conference.
In his welcome address, Kaiser said all companies in aviation must be “passenger centric” in a digital world where companies like Uber are setting the standards consumers expect.
And he warned that competitors from other industries are trying to “reshape how we see airline distribution”, although he added:
“Some of the new entrants who have done well in other areas of ecommerce get a lit bit lost because it’s not as easy as everyone wants to believe.
“It’s a complicated process to work with airlines. People do not think about cancellations, refunds, chargebacks and things like that.”
Kaiser said UATP believes that payments matter “at every stage for everybody”. “We want everything to be as seamless as possible,” he said.
“We do not want payments to be an afterthought, we do not want friction.”
Artificial Intelligence is “here to stay” and will redefine distribution by becoming the way people pay for travel as agentic commerce becomes established, added Kaiser.
UATP will play the role of a “bridge” between modern technology and “old world” systems.
“Eventually everyone is going to modernise but by the time they have done that there will be another leapfrog in tech. It’s a constant evolution.”
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