Over the past two years, Modern Airline Retailing has generated no shortage of headlines. Much of the industry conversation has focused on ambition, architecture, and the promise of new technology as airlines move from traditional Passenger Service Systems toward Offer, Order, Settle, Deliver (OOSD). However, as the industry enters 2026 that conversation is changing. Airline leaders no longer need convincing of the strategic opportunity. The focus is now shifting toward what it takes to make this transition work in live operating environments.
A recent guide authored by airline economist, Oliver Ranson, developed in partnership with Accelya, highlights how airlines can move from the theory of OOSD to practical execution.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that the challenge of OOSD is not primarily technical. While building new platforms and interfaces has absorbed much of the industry’s early attention, the pressures airlines encounter change once OOSD moves beyond pilots and into day-to-day operation. Process design, team structures, commercial governance, and decision-making discipline quickly become the limiting factors. These are the areas where complexity surfaces, and where progress is either sustained or stalls.
Ranson highlights that OOSD should be treated as a commercial operating model rather than a discrete technology project. Airlines do not transition in a single step, nor do they progress uniformly across offer creation, order management, settlement, and delivery. In practice, these capabilities mature at different speeds depending on an airline’s strategy, scale, and risk tolerance. Approaching OOSD as a phased journey allows airlines to build confidence through operation, rather than attempting to force completeness upfront.
Flexibility therefore plays a central role in reducing execution risk. Early decisions made during the transition can shape an airline’s retailing trajectory for years to come. Approaches that constrain future innovation or limit the ability to adapt as standards, partnerships, and customer expectations evolve increase risk over time. Retaining strategic sovereignty through open standards and modular operating models gives airlines room to learn, adjust, and progress without locking themselves into premature conclusions.
Another theme that becomes more prominent once OOSD is in use is the role of experimentation. Many of the commercial questions raised by offers and orders cannot be answered through planning alone. How bundles perform, how customers respond to different propositions, and how value is distributed across partners only becomes clear through operation. Experimentation, in this context, is not about radical change, but about structured learning that informs how retailing capabilities are scaled responsibly.
As the industry moves forward, the emphasis is shifting from defining what OOSD is to understanding how it is operated. Progress will be measured less by architectural milestones and more by the ability to apply new retailing models with control, resilience, and confidence. Airlines that balance ambition with pragmatism, and progress with flexibility, will be best positioned to turn modern retailing into sustained commercial advantage.
Author: Barbara Moreno
Director
*Find out more about Accelya's engagement in the IATA's Strategic Partnerships Program on the partners directory.
