The Great Leap Forward

It's 48 hours since I landed in Miami, and I'm now back at the airport, waiting for my flight home.

The Airline & Travel Payments Summit has been a real education for me - not least in how much food I can consume in 2 days. During the more-or-less-continuous finger buffet, I've met 150 interesting people from all over the world - all with different perspectives on the airline industry; I've listened to 16 hours of formal presentations and debates, I've received a wealth of advice, opinion and comments on what we should be doing to make Alternative Airlines more customer friendly, accessible, secure and even fun and I've absorbed numerous scarcely disguised sales pitches from would-be suppliers of technology and services.

Key take-aways are the sheer complexity and sophistication of the online payments industry, and the blunt realization that customers around the world do not want a "one-size-fits-all" offering, which has been determined by what is "normal" in UK! The experience has reinforced my view that anything is possible - but nothing is easy. We certainly have a lot to do when I get home to make sure that Alternative Airlines fulfills its potential, meets the needs of customers around the world, and keeps agile and fresh.

But first there is probably time for one more substantial snack before the "last call" for Virgin Atlantic flight 6...

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