Attended by JP Olmos, Director of Channels and Distribution Consulting, Branchspace
Miami in early June. 1,500 airline and airport professionals at the Miami Beach Convention Center for two days, and the conversations (on stage and off) told a fairly consistent story: the industry knows where it needs to go, and getting there is harder than the strategy slides suggest.
Here's what stood out.
The fundamentals still run the business
Roberto Alvo, CEO of LATAM Airlines, brought the conversation back to basics. Running an airline well still comes down to managing demand, fuel prices, and a global economy that doesn't sit still. His message was clear: peace and economic prosperity are good for aviation, and the industry's long-term growth depends on both.
Building around the customer
David Neeleman, CEO of Breeze Airways and a serial airline founder, spoke about his priorities. The consistent thread is customer needs and satisfaction. For Neeleman, that's the starting point, not just a principle to cite, but the lens through which he makes decisions.
Transformation moves when the teams do
Lu Truong from Southwest Airlines walked through the airline's transformation: business model, operational challenges, change management. The part worth noting was Southwest's ability to execute quickly once the teams got aligned. Getting to that point is the hard part. Once there, things move.
What the hallways said
The conversations away from the main stage covered pertinent topics.
BermudAir is actively expanding its network, with several new routes planned by December. But growth brings its own friction: smaller carriers often find their existing technology providers can't scale with them, and BermudAir's situation reflected a tension many regional airlines face, where commercial ambitions outpace what their current systems can support.
OAG's Alex Galambos noted that the company's scope now extends well beyond flight schedules. Following the acquisition of Infare, OAG now covers pricing and fares intelligence alongside flight status and operations data, positioning themselves as a broader commercial intelligence provider for the industry.
Where Branchspace fits
Branchspace combines airline consulting with purpose-built digital products, and we stay involved through delivery. That means helping airlines move to modern retailing through our Triplake platform, untangle distribution complexity, or build the commercial and technical case for Offer and Order transformation through our Transform consulting practice.
If the talking points from Miami feel familiar, we'd like to talk.
