Market models help airlines make faster pricing decisions

Airline pricing requires constant adjustment across networks that move tens of thousands of passengers on hundreds of flights each day. Many journeys involve multiple connections, and pricing decisions can depend on demand, season, time of day, current events, global markets, and competitor activity.

Generative AI-powered market models are emerging as tools for making those decisions in real time. Trained on high-resolution numerical data, the models are designed to analyze, simulate, and predict complex financial dynamics, moving beyond historical trends or static rules to support dynamic pricing, inventory, and revenue management.

Virgin Atlantic is using a market model to drive generative pricing engines in some markets. Dominic Kennedy, the airline’s senior vice president of revenue management, sales, and e-commerce, said the system helps teams make better, faster, more granular commercial decisions by evaluating demand, capacity, bookings, competitor positioning, and broader market conditions.