Marketing, Planning, and Customer Service is the area of airline activity that manages customer relationships, captures travel reservations and payments, and uses that information in planning activities that ultimately drive airline operations. Airlines may obtain these services in house, through outsourcing, or through some combination of the two.

Most of the activities in Marketing, Planning, and Customer Service rely heavily on both in-house and vendor-provided IT systems. These systems are often complex and highly integrated with other airline systems. We also see them evolving to use analytic and prognostic algorithms to enhance their planning capabilities and outcomes. In the next 20 years, IT systems will make up almost half of the total amount that airlines spend on Marketing, Planning, and Customer Service functions.