When plans change, your team stays ahead.

Record passengers, record disruption, thinner margins. IATA expects 5.2 billion passengers in 2026 on a 3.9% net margin — about $7.90 of profit per passenger — with labor now the largest cost line (IATA, December 2025). In the US, 2025 on-time arrivals fell to 76.3%, with more than 118,000 cancellations across the ten largest carriers (PIRG via ConsumerAffairs). Every one of those events becomes a queue at a gate, a call to a reservations center and a message to a hotel front desk.

The rules are tightening on both sides of the Atlantic. The FAA Reauthorization Act requires US airlines to offer 24/7 access to live customer-service agents and triples the maximum DOT penalty to $75,000 per violation; automatic refunds must be issued within seven business days (DOT rulemaking summary). In Europe, Regulation (EU) 2026/2202 applies from 23 October 2027: reimbursement within 7 days, rerouting within 3 hours or the passenger self-books at up to 400% of fare, claims decided within 30 days and a formal complaints process (Burges Salmon). The UK Civil Aviation Bill, now before the Commons, would give the CAA direct fining powers of up to £300,000 or 10% of worldwide turnover (Burges Salmon).

Self-service does not absorb the disruption day. Only 14% of customer issues are fully resolved in self-service, and 73% of customers try it first — so the hard cases land on an agent already (Gartner via CX Today). Airlines know it: 83% already use AI in operations and passenger service, but 49% say data integration is the main barrier (SITA Air Transport IT Insights 2025). Hotels face the same squeeze: 76% report staffing shortages (AHLA via Hospitality Net), while 85% plan to put at least 5% of IT budget into AI (Canary, March 2026).

And the platform clock is running: Cisco UCCE and PCCE 12.5 and 12.6 reach end-of-support on 31 December 2027 (Cisco end-of-life notice) — the estate many carriers run their reservations centers on.