Only 12% of airlines tie AI to revenue growth, finds Accenture

58% of airlines risk falling behind other consumer industries by treating Gen AI as "add on"

A new study by consultancy firm Accenture has discovered aviation aren't utilising AI to its full potential compared to other industries.

It comes as growing presence of AI advancements force businesses to keep up with consumer demand but the research revealed while airlines may see the promise of generative AI, too often they implement it as a separate "add-on" rather than embedding it as part of a connected "digital thread". 

Moreover, it found that 58% of airlines still layer AI onto outdated legacy systems, limiting its impact. 

By contrast, Consumer Goods and Retail companies are weaving AI into the fabric of their businesses, with 100% of leaders calling it strategic and nearly half running more than 10 deployments. 

The firm said for airlines, embedding Gen AI structurally, not in isolated pilots, is the "path to realising its full potential" which includes personalised customer experiences, streamlined operations, smarter maintenance, and new revenue streams. 

As outlined in the report, only 12% of airlines today link AI directly to revenue growth. This is despite near-universal adoption of AI in customer-facing functions such as marketing (99%), e-commerce (100%), and customer service and experience (100% each). 

In fact, 100% of Consumer Goods and Retail leaders treat gen AI as central to strategy, compared to just 48% of airline executives.

The difference in maturity shows up even more starkly in deployment - while 44% of airlines say they have deployed gen AI in key workflows, most of these efforts are still small pilots.

One to five initiatives at most, with only 14% reporting six to ten pilots. By contrast, nearly all Consumer Goods and Retail companies (99%) have live deployments, with almost half (48%) already running more than ten pilots, and more than half (52%) managing between six and ten. 

This suggests that for airlines, deployment is still about testing the waters, while in Consumer Goods and Retail it’s about embedding and scaling impact.

Airlines are also lagging on Agentic AI systems that can act autonomously on behalf of the business or custome, as found in the research. 

Nearly two-thirds (61%) of airlines report having no live agentic AI projects at all. In Consumer Goods and Retail industries, the picture looks very different: 98% already have 1-5 pilots and 59% are running 6-10 proof-of-concepts. For airlines, the agentic AI journey has barely begun.

“While the airline industry has made progress in applying AI to customer-facing areas such as marketing, e-commerce, and service, the far greater opportunity lies in transforming the core of the business: from operations and crew management to pricing, revenue growth, and retail platforms," said Emily Weiss, Travel industry Lead, Accenture. 

"At present, too many airlines are still experimenting with small pilots or layering AI on top of legacy systems, which constrains scale and impact. 

"To capture the full value, airlines must re-architect their systems with AI at the core, scale initiatives across functions, and tie them directly to revenue outcomes. 

She added: "For the industry, this means unlocking new growth through smarter operations, higher-margin retail, and more resilient business models. 

For consumers, it translates into more personalized journeys, smoother travel experiences, and greater value at every step of the trip.