As pressure on airline profitability continues to increase, managing payment processes effectively is becoming increasingly important. According to IATA’s June 2026 forecast, the industry’s total net profit is expected to decline from USD$ 45Bn in 2025 to USD$ 23Bn in 2026. A study conducted by Edgar, Dunn & Company for IATA and published in 2025 estimates that airlines incur approximately USD$ 22Bn in payment-related costs each year. While these figures refer to different periods, together they clearly demonstrate the significance of payment costs to airline profitability.
However, the impact of payment processes goes beyond costs. When a preferred payment method is not available, a technical disruption occurs, or the authentication process involves more steps than necessary, passengers may abandon their purchase before completing the transaction. For airlines, effective payment management therefore requires them to consider costs, transaction success, security and the passenger experience together.
A More Centralized and Flexible Payment Structure
Payment orchestration is a technology layer that enables airlines to manage different payment components, including banks, payment service providers (PSPs), alternative payment methods, digital wallets and fraud prevention solutions, through a centralized structure.
Airlines have multiple sales channels, including websites, mobile applications, call centers, travel agencies, GDS connections and airport sales points, while passengers’ payment preferences vary by market and currency. A unified payment infrastructure makes it easier to onboard new payment methods and payment service providers while reducing the need for repeated integrations across different channels.
Through dynamic routing, transactions can be directed to the most appropriate provider based on criteria such as payment method, currency, card-issuing country, channel, transaction amount, provider performance and cost. Centralized rule management also enables operations teams to adapt payment flows more quickly to changing conditions.
Protecting Sales Against Payment Disruptions
A technical issue or temporary outage with a payment provider can directly result in lost sales. An orchestration infrastructure can reroute a transaction to an alternative provider based on predefined rules or trigger a retry mechanism.
However, an apparent payment failure does not necessarily mean the transaction was unsuccessful. For example, during a timeout, a payment provider may have completed the transaction even though the response did not reach the airline. Retrying the transaction without first verifying its status can therefore create a risk of duplicate charges.
At the same time, offering local payment methods, reducing the number of payment steps, and using technologies such as card-on-file and tokenization can provide a faster and more user-friendly experience. Risk-based authentication and fraud prevention mechanisms can also help strike a balance between security and user experience.
Payment Does Not End with the Sale
Payment management for airlines does not end when a ticket sale is completed. Ticket changes, cancellations, ancillary services, additional charges and refunds are also important parts of the payment lifecycle.
Linking these transactions to the relevant reservation, order, ticket or service, tracking financial data from different providers through a single structure, and automating reconciliation processes are important for operational efficiency. These capabilities reduce manual workloads while making it easier to identify discrepancies between transaction amounts.
At the same time, monitoring metrics such as authorization rates, technical error and timeout rates, transactions completed through alternative providers during disruptions, and payment costs per successful transaction enable airlines to continuously improve their payment infrastructure.
As airline retailing evolves, this need will become even more important. As airlines increasingly offer ancillary services alongside flights within the same order, and approaches such as NDC and ONE Order become more widespread, payment activity will need to be managed together with the relevant orders and services.
Where Does Hitit Fit into This Transformation?
At Hitit, we are closely following this transformation in payment technology and continuing our work in payment orchestration. Our aim is to support airlines in managing different payment providers and methods through a more centralized, flexible and efficient structure.
We see payment infrastructure not simply as a payment collection point, but as a strategic technology layer that works alongside an airline’s various processes from the point of sale through to the post-sale journey. Through our work in this area, we aim to help airlines address today’s needs while also preparing for the payment and airline retailing models of the future.
For more information about our payment orchestration initiatives, please contact us at [email protected].
Sources:
IATA, Industry Statistics, June 2026.
Edgar, Dunn & Company, From Plumbing to Storefront: How “Payments” Is Changing for Airlines, March 4, 2025.