Remarks from Shawn Richards, CEO & Co-Founder, Ink Innovation. IATA Webinar: Offers & Orders Transformation.
Orders in action, not in theory
We’re proud to be part of the momentum around Modern Airline Retailing.
Ink has been delivering native orders since 2022.
Not in theory. In production.
We work across over 400 airports.
Handling 58 million passengers a year.
But numbers aren’t the story. The experience is.
Legacy is everywhere
Legacy will persist for a long time.
But the shift to Offers and Orders isn’t optional.
It’s overdue.
Interoperability matters.
And standardisation is how we get there.
ONE Order gives the industry a new baseline.
Our strategy: Orchestration and minimal tech footprint
We’ve aligned our strategy to two pillars:
Journey orchestration.
And reducing the technology footprint.
We want to make Delivery invisible for passengers.
And lighter for airlines and airports.
That means rethinking what tech we put in front of customers.
And what processes do we expect them to navigate?
True transformation doesn’t just change systems.
It changes stories.
AI-first. Customer-centric.
Those aren’t buzzwords. They shape how we work.
Our delivery system works today with PNRs.
And with Orders simultaneously
We integrate with Order Management Systems (OMS) in real time.
So status updates—like lounge access or baggage check—flow directly.
And automatically.
The OMS remains the single source of truth.
Always.
Retailing doesn’t end at check-in
This is about orchestration, not duplication.
Retailing doesn’t stop at check-in.
Ancillaries should be sellable anywhere—pre-flight, at the airport, in-flight.
The industry needs to think beyond tickets and seats.
Think services.
Think journeys.
Think delivery.
Transformation is not a cost-cutting exercise
Transformation isn’t about saving money.
It’s about setting yourself up to operate differently.
Trying to cut costs during transition is a mistake.
Optimisation comes after the shift, not before.
To those asking: Why talk about Delivery now?
Because Delivery defines how the customer experiences their journey.
We’ve built the architecture.
We're rolling it out now.
A 2-year+ timeline is too long to start shaping the story of a customer's journey.
Strategic airlines know that focusing on Delivery now simplifies transition.
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