From Printed Fare Sheets to Intelligent Automation: A Personal Reflection

Every October, when the World Aviation Festival comes around, I find myself reflecting on how far this industry has come. While I won’t be attending in person this year, it’s still a moment I look forward to—a chance to reconnect with my airline roots and remember why I love this space so much.

I still remember walking into Air Italy SpA’s office in Olbia, just a stone’s throw from the doors of Costa Smeralda Airport. It was an amazing space filled with Sardinian energy. About 25 passionate agents worked the call center there, backed by a small support team in the United States. It wasn’t a 24/7 operation, and hiring a BPO wasn’t an option, but the team’s dedication more than made up for the limitations.

Not long after I joined, Rossen Dimitrov—who had come from Qatar Airways—stepped in as Chief Operating Officer. Rossen was meticulous about customer service. Everything had to be impeccable, from how agents answered the phone to how the brand presented itself. We were in the midst of a true turnaround process—working to elevate Air Italy into a best-in-class Italian airline, modernizing systems and service models alike.

I can still see the agents printing out the latest promotional fares, highlighting every rule and penalty line by line so they could confidently guide customers through the details. Air Italy wasn’t operating via the cloud back then—no dynamic infrastructure, no real-time data sync. Everything was manual, local, and human.

My last visit was in 2019, just before the airline went into liquidation in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. I loved that team, and it still saddens me that the airline closed. But their story reminds me just how much has changed—and how far technology has come in helping great people deliver great service.

The Shift: From Manual Processes to Machine Intelligence

Back then, nearly everything required a human touch—often literally. If a traveler emailed a marriage license or legal document to request a name change, an agent had to open the attachment (pray there was no virus or malware), verify it, cross-check the reservation, and process the update by hand.

Those days are quickly disappearing.

Now, AI can securely interpret attachments, validate documents, and initiate approved workflows automatically, all while maintaining compliance and auditability.

It’s a small example, but it shows how AI is transforming the everyday reality of airline operations—turning hours of manual work into moments of instant service.

At Acai Travel, we’re focused on AI for travel operations support—helping airlines and TMCs streamline service delivery, policy compliance, and customer experience through automation that truly understands the travel ecosystem. Our AI Travel Agent connects directly with PSS systems, operates within omnichannel environments like Zendesk, and is designed to support the high-volume, high-context interactions that define modern airline and TMC operations.

What Acai’s AI Travel Agent Is Already Enabling

Our technology is evolving fast—and airlines are already experiencing what’s possible. Acai’s AI Travel Agent is:

• Demonstrating how ancillary bookings—like hotels or seat upgrades—can be automated through natural-language interactions to maximize sales.
• Supporting early pilots that interpret interline agreements and manage complex PNR workflows with full compliance.
• Enabling personalization at scale, where AI reads from updated loyalty scripts or marketing rules—no manual code or fare changes required.
• Helping airlines explore deeper loyalty engagement, adapting dynamically as program rules evolve.
• Handling document-driven service requests—like passenger name changes—without needing a human to open an email or attachment.
  

In short, Acai is proving that AI can do more than just respond. It can understand, validate, and execute with context and care.

AI That Understands Airline Operations

This isn’t about replacing people—it’s about amplifying their impact.

Acai’s AI Travel Agent acts as an operational co-pilot: handling repetitive tasks, ensuring compliance, and freeing agents to focus on disruption recovery, VIP service, and relationship-driven work.

Because it’s purpose-built for the travel industry, Acai’s platform understands the nuances of fares, policies, and distribution systems that generic AI tools simply can’t.

Looking Forward

Every airline has its “Air Italy moment”—that point when legacy systems and manual processes become unsustainable. The difference today is that AI makes transformation attainable, even for lean operations.

While I won’t be in Lisbon this week, I’m proud that Pavel Pratyush, Acai’s Co-Founder and CTO, will be on stage at the World Aviation Festival to share how airlines can leverage Acai’s AI to reimagine travel operations support, loyalty, and efficiency.

For those of us who remember the paper era, it’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come—and how bright the runway ahead looks.