These days, almost every Airline-Tech headline comes with an AI label attached. Just as “online” became the default in the 2000s, AI has now become the baseline for meaningful progress in the travel industry. The question is no longer if AI is involved, but how it’s being applied, and which experiments truly push the industry forward.

In this September edition of our OAG Airline-Tech Innovation Radar, we’ve picked three standout innovations that cut through the noise and offer a glimpse of where Airline Tech is headed next.

Key Summary:

1. Google has dropped two notable launches; Flight Deals, an AI-powered flight search tool built on Gemini 2.5 that makes it easier for flexible travelers to discover cheaper fares, and Magic Cue, an AI feature for Google’s Pixel 10 phones that automatically detects when travel information is likely needed.
2. Travel marketplace Wingie Enuygun has built Wingie Talkie, a real-time speech-to-speech translation engine and launched its own MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows external AI models to directly search, book, and modify travel inside Wingie’s ecosystem.
3. Working with its brand agency Carat USA and  AI-platform Sightly, United Airlines has built a system to identify culturally relevant moments in real time and opportunities for brand messaging.

Innovation #1: Google Pushes Deeper Into Travel With AI Flight Search and Contextual “Magic Cue”

There’s hardly a monthly AI update in aviation without a major Big Tech move. Back in our July edition, we spotlighted how Apple and OpenAI were embedding themselves deeper into passenger touchpoints.

This month, it’s Google making waves, with two notable launches that show how far Big Tech is willing to go in reshaping travel:

Flight Deals

Google has introduced an AI-powered flight search tool built on Gemini 2.5 that makes it easier for flexible travelers to discover cheaper fares.

Here’s how it works:

• Instead of fiddling with filters, users can type natural-language prompts like “week-long trip this winter to a city with great food, nonstop only” and receive matching options with live pricing.
• Results are ranked by savings percentage and integrated directly into the existing Google Flights interface. 

One could argue this launch was inevitable, as most analysts were just waiting for Google to enter direct competition with an entire wave of startups that have been building AI-powered travel search engines over the past two years. Given Google’s reach and infrastructure, those smaller players may quickly find themselves outgunned.

Magic Cue

Arguably, the more exciting launch is Magic Cue, a new AI feature for Google’s Pixel 10 phones that automatically surfaces travel information when needed.

No more digging through apps or scrolling through email chains: the system proactively identifies when booking details are relevant (for instance, while you’re contacting an airline or replying to a friend about your flight) and places them front and center.

Here’s how it works:

• AI monitors user context and communication patterns.
• It automatically detects when travel information is likely needed.
• Relevant booking details (flight times, hotel addresses, etc.) appear without manual searching.

The result is a more seamless travel experience, where information is presented to you instead of you having to search for it. It’s reminiscent of the big UX leap years ago when Google Calendar started automatically pulling flight and hotel details from Gmail – slightly scary, perhaps, but undeniably convenient.

Why does this innovation stand out?

First, because travelers typically bounce across countless pages before booking.

• Expedia data shows U.S. travelers average 277 web pages; globally, it’s 141 pages in the 45 days leading up to a trip.
• By proactively surfacing relevant details, Google reduces friction and sets new expectations for intelligent, contextual assistance.

Secondly, because hardware is the Trojan horse.

• Since Magic Cue ships as part of the Pixel 10 rollout, users can adopt it for various daily tasks and naturally rely on it when traveling.
• Such repeated exposure could normalize AI-driven travel assistance more quickly than any standalone travel app.

In our view, Magic Cue may be the most overlooked AI-powered travel feature of the year.

Interested to learn more about it?

Check out Google’s launch demo with Jimmy Fallon here.

Innovation #2: Wingie Enuygun Fixes the Call Center and Opens Travel to AI Models

Few things frustrate travelers more than a customer hotline: long waits (averaging over two minutes across major OTAs), limited language options, and endless transfers. These pain points have plagued the travel industry for decades, especially when dealing with airlines.

Wingie Enuygun, the fast-growing travel marketplace from the Middle East and North Africa, is tackling this head-on with a set of AI-driven breakthroughs that hint at where the industry is headed next.

First, fixing the hotline problem

Instead of battling chronic shortages of multilingual agents, Wingie has built Wingie Talkie, a real-time speech-to-speech translation engine.

• It enables Turkish-speaking agents to instantly converse with travelers in other languages, eliminating the need for separate desks or interpreters.
• Already live in five languages, it resolves around 10% of inbound calls and is on track to cover nearly 20 languages by year-end.
• In other words, a caller in Berlin can be helped by an Istanbul-based agent (in German) within seconds.

This live-to-live translation not only tackles one of the industry’s biggest service bottlenecks.

It also feels like an early glimpse of what customer support could look like in every sector beyond the travel industry.

Second, opening travel infrastructure to AI

The bigger industry-defining leap is Wingie’s launch of its own MCP (Model Context Protocol) server. MCP is a technical bridge that allows external AI models to directly search, book, and modify travel inside Wingie’s ecosystem.

For the first time, large language models like Claude (and soon ChatGPT, Gemini, and others) can go beyond offering inspiration and planning tips to actually executing bookings in real time.

This extends well beyond a simple API:

• MCP enables AI assistants to process natural-language commands, such as “find me the cheapest flight to Berlin next week” or “resend my hotel booking confirmation,” and complete the action seamlessly within Wingie’s system.
• The shift could redefine how travelers interact with OTAs: not by opening an app or website, but by asking their AI agent to handle it directly.

Why does this innovation stand out?

Wingie is offering one of the clearest looks yet at the pipes for tomorrow’s AI-native travel experience. By addressing the most disliked aspect of travel (the hotline) and then opening its infrastructure to AI agents, it’s setting a template for how the industry can transition from reactive service to proactive, AI-powered assistance.

Innovation #3: United Airlines Uses AI to IDENTIFY MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

When we discuss airline innovation in this series, it typically revolves around fleet operations, turnaround times, or booking systems. Rarely do we highlight the marketing department. But United Airlines just rolled out an approach that’s worth attention, and yes, it’s powered by AI.

Here’s the problem United is tackling: airlines tend to trend on social media for the wrong reasons, such as delays, missed connections, or operational meltdowns.

That makes traditional advertising risky. Push the wrong message at the wrong time, and you risk amplifying negativity instead of cutting through it.

United is trying to flip this dynamic:

• Working with its brand agency Carat USA and AI-platform Sightly, the airline has built a system to identify culturally relevant moments in real time – opportunities where brand messaging can ride the wave of the news cycle instead of getting lost in it.
• Imagine an unexpected consumer backlash to a competitor decision or a cultural event that sparks industry-wide discussion: rather than reacting late, United’s AI tools flag the opening instantly and enable the brand team to deploy tailored creative across TikTok, YouTube, or programmatic video.
• For instance, if Delta or American were to quietly raise their baggage fees, United could detect the spike in online chatter and counter it with messaging tied to its own customer-friendly policies.

Why does this innovation stand out?

We find this innovation particularly relevant because it demonstrates how AI is being increasingly leveraged across corporate airline functions.

• Just as airlines moved from static pricing to dynamic revenue management, they’re now evolving from static ad campaigns to dynamic, real-time brand positioning.
• Airlines have long struggled to engage travelers outside the narrow band of booking, check-in, and the flight itself. Real-time messaging helps expand those touchpoints, building relevance in contexts where airlines are usually absent.

While United claims its AI-powered marketing has already delivered strong lifts in engagement and conversion metrics, these results are difficult to verify externally (and should be taken with a grain of salt). But this innovation demonstrates how AI is becoming a tool to reshape airline storytelling in the public eye.

That's it for the September edition - stay tuned to find out our favourite travel tech developments next month. For more insights, read more of our Future of Travel posts here.