What’s on the minds of the aviation industry?

Drawn from these conversations are our team’s thoughts on the hot topics shaping aviation leaders’ agendas:

“The evolution of offers and orders is one of the biggest changes happening in the aviation industry. At this year’s meeting I really felt the discussions had increased in depth, focused on the implementation, delivery, and realisation of benefits.”

Linda Murphy, Head of Aviation, Capgemini

Listening to some of the carriers who are implementing offers and orders now, the focus was modularity and how to capture the benefits.  This is a big change, and it needs a shift in mindset too – whilst there are so many advantages to bringing more solutions into the marketplace, we need to ensure that data and process is joined up else the benefits will not be achieved.  The next 12 months is going to be interesting to see how quickly airlines can adapt and to understand what unforeseen challenges might appear.

“By now, everybody has dabbled in AI, but they’ve achieved little more than automation. The question now is: how do we industrialise AI to see real payback?”

Graham Upton, Technology & Innovation Director and Chief Architect – Intelligent Industry, Capgemini

While AI remains an important topic, there’s growing scepticism around its real-world impact. Many organisations have experimented with AI, but often in ways that resemble enhanced automation rather than transformative solutions. Capgemini’s approach is to embed AI within broader service offerings, ensuring it contributes to solving tangible problems – such as baggage tracing or providing enhanced business insights – at scale. We saw many companies working to achieve this by improved integration of their business systems. The challenge for our clients now is to scale and industrialise AI, moving beyond pilots to integrated, value-driven deployments.

“CXOs wanted to better understand the value drivers behind new technologies. We had a lot of discussions around delivery commitments and how to measure success.”

Marco Hilgers, Senior Director Transport, Capgemini Invent

CXOs and tech leaders at the festival were keen to understand the value behind emerging technologies. How can Capgemini commit to measurable savings? What does success look like when rolling out new solutions?

These questions are central to our work, as we continue to align innovation with business outcomes and customer needs.

How is Capgemini engineering the future of aviation?

We were excited to showcase several pioneering initiatives at the event:

Engineering Efficiency: Lifecycle Optimisation for aircraft components – Developed with Amazon Web Services (AWS), this solution helps airlines and MRO providers extend the lifespan of aircraft components, promote circular economy practices, and ensure traceability through in-service data and historical insights. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we’re now in discussions with several airlines to enhance the offering.

Flight Path to Growth: Leveraging innovation to drive capacity growth for Heathrow – Europe’s busiest airport is setting ambitious goals to increase airport capacity amidst operational and infrastructure constraints. Our session explored how Capgemini is helping unlock new pathways for growth through innovation.

WindSight IQ™ – Making Wind Visible for safer and more efficient airports – Originally developed for the America’s Cup, WindSight IQ™ uses Doppler LiDAR and multi-sensor fusion to create real-time, high-resolution wind field maps. We hypothesise that this technology has the potential to enhance safety, increase runway capacity, and reduce environmental impact. Trials begin at a UK airport soon, and early conversations suggest strong interest across the industry.

Looking ahead

Across the board, we were encouraged to see the maturity of conversations developing rapidly in the industry. Capgemini’s presence at the World Aviation Festival 2025 reaffirmed our commitment to driving meaningful change in aviation. Three themes stood out and Capgemini is uniquely positioned to lead the way on all of them. From embedding AI with strategic intent, to elevating the power of in-person experiences, and accelerating the sustainability agenda rather than slowing it down, our capabilities and expertise are aligned with the future our clients are striving to build. Whether it’s reimagining ticketing systems, providing enhanced business insights, scaling AI, or pioneering new technologies like WindSight IQ™, we’re excited to continue shaping the future of flight.

Get in touch to explore how we can help you do the same.