Sean Menke

Buy now pay later accounts for less than 1% of airline revenue today. ClarityPay CEO Houman Motaharian thinks that is about to change. In this clip from a bonus episode of Airline Weekly Lounge, host Darren Frei sits down with Houman to break down why the future of BNPL in travel looks a lot like the co-branded credit card model, how white label solutions could let airlines and hotels own the customer relationship, and why brand control is going to be the deciding factor in who wins this space.

Leslie and I just got back from a 13 days Scandinavian cruise. It was great. While in Oslo, we had dinner with 9 of my former students. Not all of them were DU ski team members; one was on our Women's lacrosse team!

After more than 19 years, the time has come for me to say goodbye to Sabre. Although this farewell is not happening in the way I imagined, it does not diminish everything I have experienced here.   I have always believed that success depends on two things: preparing yourself every single day, and having someone give you the opportunity to show what you can do. Sabre gave me that opportunity for more than 19 years, and for that I will always be grateful. You've probably heard me say that you should work as if you own the company. You are the company. Every day, you should strive to make it better, take pride in what you do, and leave things better than you found them, and that includes you. We all want to work for the best company, and the only way to achieve that is by making it the best through our own actions. That way of thinking is not changing with this restructure event, its making it stronger. My sister said something that made me think. She told me, "I never really understood what the hell you did at work. I knew it had something to do with computers and planes. But one thing I always knew was that you were proud of what you were doing." That meant a lot to me because being proud of my work has always been one of my goals. Looking back, I think I'm leaving knowing I accomplished that. As I reflected on why I chose Sabre and why I loved working here, I realized that Sabre was never just a stock price, a REST API, or an app. Sabre has always been its people. Walking out of this building fills me with emotion and not because of the meeting rooms, the offices, or the monitors, but because of the people and everything we experienced together. I had the privilege of working alongside incredible colleagues and friends. We shared countless stories, overcame difficult challenges, celebrated victories, and supported one another through both the good times and the difficult ones. I still remember the long days when the team accomplished things that seemed almost impossible. The pride we felt after solving a difficult problem. The shared lunches, the early morning shifts, the endless nights during production changes, the Give Time Together events, the end year party and even a Tuesday at 4 a.m., running on pure sugar during a 24-hour Hackday while listening to Carlitos de Leon explain why we should present our hack using a Cacho Castaña’s song. Organizational changes can restructure a company, but they can never erase the memories, friendships, and moments we lived together. Those are the moments that made me love working on this company. A few weeks ago, I read a post from a former Sabre colleague that said, "You won't discover new horizons if you don't leave the coast.". I think that's a beautiful way to look at this new chapter. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making these past 19 years one of the most meaningful chapters of my life. Thank you for your trust, your friendship, your support, and for every lesson along the way.

This is BY FAR my favorite commencement speech this season by the CEO of JetBlue, Joanna Geraghty. There is one form of intelligence that far surpasses AI... MI: Mother Intelligence! The lessons, instincts, and wisdom passed down by the people who know us best often end up being the most valuable guidance we'll ever receive. Watch the full speech (starting around 20:00) where she shares some of the best MI advice from her community: https://lnkd.in/eM2JN89K

Three airlines. Three retiree badges. More than 30 years in airline commercial, operations and IT. Grateful for the opportunities, friendships, and lessons from Continental (yes I know it's a UA retiree badge), Frontier, and Hawaiian Airlines. Aviation has allowed me to travel the world, something I plan on continuing! Looking forward to the next chapter which will include anything outdoors in Hawaii which I call home. And quite possibly helping airlines navigate PSS, vendor management, and Offer/Order transformation through Kiwi Aviation Consulting. And if anyone wants to come to Hawaii and discuss the sad state of OOSD adoption, I'm always happy to make time! 😉

I was just with our great United Airlines team in Rio De Janeiro, where we completed the first prototype installation of Starlink on our first widebody (777). Our customers love Starlink on domestic routes, but the long international routes are the ones I’m most excited about… and I know it can’t come soon enough. The United and Starlink teams are working hard to accelerate the installations as fast as possible. 🙌

I am proud to share that my younger son, Tomasz Tabernacki, graduated from the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland and will be soon starting his residency at the NYP/Weill Cornell Medical Center in NYC.

Dolly Wagner-Wilkins joins Accelya’s Board as a Non-Executive Director as airlines move from modern retailing ambition to execution at scale. Dolly brings more than three decades of experience across airline, logistics and enterprise technology. She has led large-scale transformation, built and operated mission-critical systems, and helped align technology strategy with commercial outcomes in complex, high-volume environments. That experience is highly relevant to where the industry is heading. Airlines are rethinking core technology across offer, order, settlement and delivery. As modern retailing moves from concept to real-world execution, the industry needs technology leadership grounded in operational complexity, resilience and scale. Dolly’s perspective will be a valuable addition as Accelya continues to support airlines through this next phase of technology change. Welcome to Accelya, Dolly. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eAbAnPsr #Accelya #ModernAirlineRetailing #AviationTechnology

Leadership in aviation is no longer just about running airlines. It’s about managing: • global uncertainty • fuel economics • AI transformation • digital distribution • operational scale • customer expectations • and billion-dollar infrastructure systems These are the Top 100 Airline CEOs shaping the future of global aviation. From: Emirates Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines Lufthansa Air India Limited IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) Delta Air Lines Ryanair - Europe's Favourite Airline AirAsia Ethiopian Airlines to the leaders building the next generation of aviation growth and airline technology. One thing stands out very clearly: The airlines growing fastest today are not just aviation companies anymore. They are technology-driven ecosystems. Modern airline leadership now depends on: • API distribution • automation • revenue optimization • smart network planning • digital customer experience • NDC adoption • and scalable operations A brutal truth many people ignore: Aircraft alone do not create profitable airlines. Execution does. The CEOs dominating this industry understand: • connectivity drives expansion • distribution drives revenue • and technology drives survival The next decade of aviation will belong to leaders who can combine: • innovation • operational discipline • AI • automation • and global scalability Massive respect to all the aviation leaders pushing the industry forward. Which airline CEO do you think is transforming aviation most aggressively right now? Comment below 👇 If you want to discuss: • Travel APIs • OTA infrastructure • airline distribution • white-label solutions • or travel-tech growth systems 📅 https://lnkd.in/gUxtDrDH 📲 WhatsApp: +917861972008 #AviationIndustry #AirlineCEO #TravelTechnology #TravelAPI #OTA #AirlineBusiness #TravelTech #DigitalTransformation #FlightAPI #NDC #AirlineLeadership #TravelStartup #AviationNews #TravelBusiness #B2BTravel