Saritha Ramanath is a visionary executive with nearly 30 years of global technology leadership, specializing in digital transformation, innovation, and enterprise growth. As Founder, CEO & CTO of Inspire Solutions Inc. (USA) and Inspire Infosol Pvt Ltd. (India), she has built high-performing organizations that bridge business strategy with technological excellence. She has led Inspire's evolution into a trusted partner for aviation and enterprise technology, architecting next-generation AI and digital commerce platforms that empower airlines and global businesses to scale and deliver seamless, customer-centric experiences. Beyond her executive role, Saritha is a startup mentor, angel investor, and global speaker on the future of technology and business transformation.
CAPA Airline Leader Summit World
CAPA State of the Industry | Dec 2025
Join CAPA - Centre for Aviation, the world's most trusted source for aviation intelligence, for a comprehensive snapshot of the state of commercial aviation across the globe. Featuring exclusive insights generated from CAPA's extensive data and aviation knowledge tools, this session will not only examine key performance metrics for aviation, but will examine implications for major trends in regional aviation that are shaping the industry's outlook.
Alternative interline in an offer-order world
Since 2004, Dohop has been working with industry visionaries to make travel more accessible to more destinations around the world. With a new and simple way to build partnerships, their award-winning technology empowers travel retailers and suppliers to grow and optimise their network with unlimited connections, tap into new pools of customer demand, and open new retailing opportunities with more travel options.
The Quiet Revolution: Why Azul's AI strategy wasn't about AI at all
Most airlines treat AI as a technology problem. Azul treated it as an operational one. They layered intelligence onto revenue management, network planning, and predictive maintenance without replacing existing systems. The result: measurable revenue uplift, faster decisions, and compounding advantage. This isn't a transformation roadmap. It's a case study in strategic augmentation and compounding advantage.
Partnerships - Airlines working with non aviation businesses
This dynamic session brings together industry leaders to discuss the transformative potential of partnerships between airlines and non-aviation businesses. Featuring insights from Angus McDonald, Co-Founder & CEO of Cover Genius, and Anko van der Werff, CEO of SAS, the discussion will delve into how airlines are leveraging cross-industry collaborations to enhance customer experiences, diversify revenue streams, and drive innovation.
Key topics include:
- Strategies for building successful partnerships with non-aviation sectors such as insurance, technology, and retail.
- Real-world examples of impactful collaborations that have reshaped customer engagement and ancillary revenue models.
- Challenges and opportunities in forging alliances that align with airline goals and customer expectations.
- Future trends in cross-industry partnerships and their role in the evolving aviation landscape.
Airline Leader Interview, KLM CEO Marjan Rintel
Marjan E. F. Rintel (1967) - President and CEO - has a strong track record in civil aviation. After her studies, Rintel worked in various roles at Schiphol Airport. In 1999, she moved to KLM and held a number of different positions. She got to know the company from the inside: operationally and commercially. In 2014, Rintel exchanged KLM for NS (Dutch Railways). For six years she held the position of Operational Director in the Executive Board. In 2020, she was appointed Chairman of the Board. On July 1st 2022, she returned to KLM as President and CEO. In her role as President of KLM, Rintel is a member of the Executive Committee of the Air France KLM Group and the CEO Committee. She holds various additional international positions, as member of the IATA Board of Governors and as co-Chair of Project SkyPower, which brings together European leaders from across the aviation value chain to scale up production of e-SAF.
Boardroom Conversation – Dealing with volatility in a high-cost environment
Slowing global economic growth. Increased costs for trade. Higher inflation expectations. Falling consumer confidence. Growing geopolitical fragmentation. Recent global policy shifts are amplifying uncertainty in what was already a fraught global landscape. None of this points to a rosy outlook for airlines, either in terms of travel demand, operational performance or profitability for the sector. This panel will convene C-level airline executives to examine the most pressing issues that are changing the calculus of their long term planning.
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Given the industry's notoriously thin margins, what tools are at airlines' disposal to deal with volatility in areas like fuel costs and exchange rates? How do airlines deal with inflationary pressures around other costs?
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Does geopolitical fragmentation mean a realignment of global networks? Will airlines in some regions have to make substantial capacity redeployments if politics make some connections unprofitable?
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Will more capacity pivot to emerging air transport markets, which are already growing rapidly? How do airlines deal with the potential for instability that is present in many of these markets?
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In the face of ongoing supply chain disruptions affecting aircraft deliveries and overhauls, how can airlines ensure they can get the maximum out of their existing fleets?
Capacity and infrastructure – how can the imbalances between supply and demand be addressed?
Aviation growth is held captive by two major constraints - the availability of aircraft to meet demand from passengers and the capacity of infrastructure to handle these passengers and aircraft. On the aircraft front, OEMs are struggling in the face of persistent supply chain issues, as well as problems of their own creation while MRO providers are struggling with their own concerns. Airport and ATC infrastructure is a mixed bag - some countries are rapidly expanding their airport infrastructure and modernising their ATC systems, expanding to handle current and future demand. However, other markets are lagging behind, with infrastructure projects beset by delays, excessive costs, poor regulatory frameworks or a lack of political will - which are slowing growth. Aviation needs appropriate and cost-effective infrastructure to ensure its needs are met, regulation that is appropriate to requirements and aircraft supply that can keep pace with demand.
Transformation in Action - how investing in strategic choices is taking Rolls-Royce to a place it's not been before
Luke has been at Rolls-Royce since 2009 and during that time has worked across our Energy, Defence and Civil business divisions in Saudi Arabia, the US and Germany and has held positions in production, operations, sales and contract management. From 2019 to 2023 Luke led the Customer Regional Teams in the Americas and Europe, overseeing all the commercial and operational interactions with Rolls-Royce's Civil Aerospace customers, and as of December 2023, Luke became SVP Marketing & Lessors for Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace. In this position Luke leads all the Product and Services Marketing activity as well as having full accountability for Rolls-Royce's commercial relationships with aircraft and engine Lessors. Luke has a BSc in Business & Economics and lives in Berlin, Germany with his wife and two young sons.
Boardroom Conversation - The end of cyclicality? Managing downturns, acting rationally and not waiting for recovery.
Cyclicality has long been a bugbear of the airline industry. When the speed of travel growth has slowed down, airlines have historically witnessed steep losses. Their responses have generally been to trim schedules and networks, reduce workforces and reduce spending until good times arrive again. However, the latest outlooks for the industry stand in defiance of these historical trends. While the industry faces more than its fair share of challenges, overall expectations have remained healthy and positive even in the face of lowered expectations around economic growth, global political uncertainty and retreating confidence in consumers.
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Has the airline industry finally managed to crack the code when it comes to the cyclicality of the business, or is there something else going on?
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What are the key lessons that the sector has drawn from recent crises and downturns? What are the weak-points that are still yet to be addressed?
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Given that no-one knows how long a crisis is going to last or how deep it will go, how does the industry respond proportionately in the face of challenges?
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With such volumes of information available to airline leaders, what do they look at and where do they turn when a crisis is brewing. Are AI business and decision making tools at a point where they can help in such situations, or is there a risk of garbage-in, garbage-out and being overwhelmed by the details?
Boardroom Conversation – Dealing with volatility in a high-cost environment
Slowing global economic growth. Increased costs for trade. Higher inflation expectations. Falling consumer confidence. Growing geopolitical fragmentation. Recent global policy shifts are amplifying uncertainty in what was already a fraught global landscape. None of this points to a rosy outlook for airlines, either in terms of travel demand, operational performance or profitability for the sector. This panel will convene C-level airline executives to examine the most pressing issues that are changing the calculus of their long term planning.
-
Given the industry's notoriously thin margins, what tools are at airlines' disposal to deal with volatility in areas like fuel costs and exchange rates? How do airlines deal with inflationary pressures around other costs?
-
Does geopolitical fragmentation mean a realignment of global networks? Will airlines in some regions have to make substantial capacity redeployments if politics make some connections unprofitable?
-
Will more capacity pivot to emerging air transport markets, which are already growing rapidly? How do airlines deal with the potential for instability that is present in many of these markets?
-
In the face of ongoing supply chain disruptions affecting aircraft deliveries and overhauls, how can airlines ensure they can get the maximum out of their existing fleets?
Aviation’s digital revolution 2.0 - What is the state of the art for airlines?
Airlines find themselves in the middle of a new digital revolution. Widespread and rapid AI adoption is occurring, aging legacy platforms are being replaced by cloud infrastructure, advanced automation and biometrics are transforming operation on the ground and the industry is innovating in digital spaces across the traveller journey, from advertising and retailing to onboard services and loyalty. All of this promises more than just an incremental technology upgrade but a full on technological revolution.
Despite the promise and rapid uptake of the technology, the sector remains faced with a series of hurdles around adoption. Airlines report struggling to define business cases for AI, and can find themselves lacking internal expertise. Upskilling workforces and finding reliable technology partners to support new technologies remains an ongoing challenge.
This session will dive deep into the digital revolution being undertaken in aviation, examining the investment and use cases for these new digital technologies, what their adoption means for the industry's landscape and what's next when it comes to the technological journey the industry finds itself on.
Elevating Aviation with Extended Reality - Unlocking the potential of Extended Reality & Immersive Experiences
Discover how Meta is transforming aviation with extended reality (XR) and AI, moving from experimental to industry-ready tools. Learn how airlines are already enhancing crew training, cutting costs, and revolutionizing in-flight entertainment with immersive content. Explore the future of passenger engagement through bring-your-own-device strategies and next-gen AR glasses like Orion. With Meta's massive investment and real-world innovations, this session will show how XR is shaping the next generation of passenger journeys-building the future of aviation today.
Welcome to Lunch | Inspire Solutions
Gulf Air, CEO, Martin Gauss at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Gulf Air, CEO, Martin Gauss spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Dubai Airports, CEO, Paul Griffiths at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Dubai Airports, CEO, Paul Griffiths spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Air Serbia, CEO, Jiri Marek at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Air Serbia, CEO, Jiri Marek spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Lufthansa Group, EVP Strategy, Tamur Goudarzi Pour at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Lufthansa Group, EVP Strategy, Tamur Goudarzi Pour spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Sun Country Airlines, CEO, Jude Bricker at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Sun Country Airlines, CEO, Jude Bricker spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines, President & CEO, Anko van der Werff at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
SAS Scandinavian Airlines, President & CEO, Anko van der Werff spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
TAP Air Portugal, CEO, Luís Rodrigues at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
TAP Air Portugal, CEO, Luís Rodrigues spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Embraer, SVP Head of Sales & Marketing Europe & CIS, Marie-Louise Philippe at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Embraer, SVP Head of Sales & Marketing Europe & CIS, Marie-Louise Philippe spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Kenya Airways, Group MD & CEO, Allan Kilavuka at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Kenya Airways, Group MD & CEO, Allan Kilavuka spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Jet2, CEO, Steve Heapy at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025
Jet2, CEO, Steve Heapy spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025, hosted in Lisbon, about latest industry trends and company developments.
CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.
Sustainability – it is time for airlines and the industry to update its thinking?
Sustainability represents the biggest long-term external challenge for the aviation industry. The airline industry has set itself lofty targets, culminating in an ambition to achieve 'net zero' carbon emissions by 2050. At the moment however, the industry appears to be failing to achieve interim environmental targets around sustainable aviation fuel use, operational efficiency and reducing its emissions. With frustrating building over shortages of new aircraft and SAF, a lack of infrastructure-side efficiency enhancements and difficulties in disparate political approaches, a few airlines have now very publicly announced they will not be able to meet sustainability targets they have committed to. Are we at a tipping point in aviation's sustainability challenge, or is it time for the industry to reconvene and reset its thinking around interim targets and the costs of how to get there?
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How does the industry come together to make the system as efficient as it can be? Are there 'easy wins' that the sector can turn to?
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The cost of sustainability is a much talked about topic. What sort of price premium can the industry adapt to in order to pay for sustainability, without reducing demand for flying?
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Are short-term national and regional targets, like those set by the UK and the EU, potentially counterproductive for the industry? Are regulatory approaches like SAF mandates and bans on short haul flying actually going to achieve anything?
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While the industry is desperate for more SAF, more aircraft and straighter flight paths, progress in these areas often fails to meet airline demands. How does the aviation sector communicate that while sustainability presents an enormous challenge, it also presents an enormous opportunity?
Global aviation’s unbalanced outlook
The outlook for global aviation is largely positive - traffic is growing, profits are stable and cost growth is largely manageable thanks to relief on fuel prices. While things are positive for the industry in aggregate, it is a much different story region-to-region.
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North America is beset with uncertainty thanks to the radical revision to a century of US trade policy, keeping traffic growth subdued and profits in stasis.
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European airlines are more confident about traffic growth, although they face their own issues when it comes to regulation, sustainability and infrastructure efficiency.
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Latin America has gone through a round of rapid traffic growth and airlines consolidation, but challenges around liberalisation and regulation are impediments to regional profitability.
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Asia Pacific travel continues to surge even in the face of persistent challenges around liberalisation, infrastructure congestion, competition, aircraft availability and MRO capacity.
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Middle East airlines remain vulnerable to externalities and political interference, with a series of regional conflicts playing havoc with operations and finances in the region.
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Africa leads the world in terms of traffic growth, however its airlines face challenges around liberalisation, scale and limited availability of new aircraft, which is exacerbated by intense competition from airlines outside the region.
This panel will convene leaders of airlines from aviation's different regions to provide insight on the character and challenges that their regions provide.
Introduction to Break | Rezolv Hospitality
Hemant Mediratta is a distinguished leader in the global luxury hospitality and tourism industry, with over three decades of experience. During his 16-year tenure with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, where he served as Senior Vice President of Sales, Hemant played a pivotal role in driving commercial excellence for the iconic group. His career also includes senior leadership roles at Hyatt International, IHG, and The Park Hotels. A fervent advocate for the Indian tourism sector, Hemant has dedicated his career to driving the growth of Indian tourism and positioning it on the global stage. Rooted in hospitality, Hemant brings insights into the fast-evolving aviation-hospitality services industry, where technology is redefining how airlines manage crew accommodations, irregular operations, and passenger stay experiences.
Global aviation regulation – a view from regional aviation associations
Airline associations play a unique role in global aviation, attempting to provide a unified voice of advocacy for their member carriers while coordinating and balancing disparate requirements within their membership.
Industry bodies also play an important role and often unsung role in aviation regulation - not only do they work to communicate the needs of their members to governments, but they are there to help ensure that regulation that is passed supports the viability of aviation and to build a united front when it does not.
This unique discussion will bring together major airline associations to discuss the state of aviation regulation globally, what they can do when faced with counterproductive regulations and the unique outlooks for their regions.
CAPA Airline Leader Summit World 2025 Highlights
The culminating event of CAPA's 2025 summit series, the CAPA Airline Leader Summit World was held in mid-December 2025.
Closing out a busy year for aviation, the two-day summit blended CAPA's independent market intelligence and access to industry leaders with an agenda that was packed full of engaging interviews, insightful panels, thought-leading keynotes and presentations and insightful aviation content.
The 2025 event examined what aviation leaders got right and wrong over the year, discussed the key lessons learned across the industry during the year and outlined the key trends and developments - both within the sector and externally - that are changing the landscape of aviation.
The CAPA Airline Leader Summit World was a must-attend event for anyone who sought to understand what industry leaders are really thinking and what trends and challenges are shaping the market. There was no better way to head into 2026 armed with insight and understanding from attending this event.