From Inventory to Stock Keeper: The Shift in Airline Retailing

Published: August 8, 2023

Airline systems have long been built around traditional concepts like inventory, RBDs, and class-based booking logic. But we’re now in the middle of a transformation. As the industry moves toward modern Offer and Order models - shaped by IATA’s NDC and ONE Order - the idea of “inventory” is slowly being replaced by something broader and more dynamic: the Stock Keeper.

Traditional Inventory: A Quick Recap

In legacy systems, inventory management was centered on controlling flight availability through booking classes, such as Y, J, M, etc. Each class was tied to a fare basis and carried its own revenue logic. These systems were often batch-based, dependent on filed fares through ATPCO, and managed through complex fare and rule structures. Airlines had to work within the confines of global distribution systems (GDSs), limiting real-time control over what was offered to customers.

Inventory was static in nature. It worked well for predictable, scheduled demand and standardized fare products. But with the rise of personalization, dynamic pricing, and unbundled ancillaries, the traditional model started to feel rigid and disconnected from modern retail practices.

What is the Stock Keeper?

The Stock Keeper is a more flexible, modular component that keeps track of the available “stock” - not just seats but also bags, meals, Wi-Fi, upgrades, lounges, and other ancillaries. It doesn’t rely on pre-filed fare buckets. Instead, it integrates tightly with the Offer Manager and Order Manager in real-time.

Think of it like a modern e-commerce inventory system. When a customer clicks “Add to Cart,” the system checks live stock availability. If it’s available, the item is reserved. The Stock Keeper enables similar workflows in airline commerce. When an Offer is created, the system checks live stock via API, and when a customer accepts the offer, the Stock Keeper reduces stock and marks the order for fulfillment.

Enabling Personalization

One of the major reasons this shift is happening is the demand for personalization. Airlines want to tailor their offers not just by market or cabin, but by customer type, context, and device. A frequent flyer logging in through the app should see something different than a first-time leisure traveler on a meta search engine.

With legacy inventory, creating such dynamic offers was nearly impossible. Every change meant updating ATPCO filings, adjusting GDS rules, and waiting for cache refreshes. With the Stock Keeper, airlines have live control of what’s available, to whom, and in what form.

Offer and Order: A Perfect Fit

The Offer and Order framework - as promoted by IATA and increasingly adopted by major carriers - relies on this flexibility. Offers are dynamically constructed in real time, combining flight, pricing, and ancillary information into a unique bundle. The Offer Manager communicates with the Stock Keeper to ensure the availability of each component before finalizing.

Once accepted, the Order Manager takes over, creating a single source of truth for the transaction (no more fragmented PNRs, e-tickets, and EMDs). The Stock Keeper plays a vital role here, ensuring that inventory is consumed accurately and that fulfillment systems receive the correct signals.

What About Control and Strategy?

Some revenue management teams worry that removing RBDs reduces their ability to control pricing. But the opposite is true. The Stock Keeper doesn’t remove control - it moves it upstream. Instead of working through filing constraints, revenue teams can design availability strategies based on context, demand signals, and behavioral data.

For example, an airline could choose to open access to a business class seat for a customer who has shown high spend behavior, even if the seat was closed under traditional RBD controls. That’s strategic flexibility that was never possible with legacy inventory.

Transitioning to Stock Keeper: Challenges

No transformation is without challenges. Airlines moving toward a Stock Keeper model must rethink their architecture, redefine inventory roles, and retrain commercial teams. Integration between the Offer Manager, Order Manager, and fulfillment systems must be watertight. And change management - both technical and organizational - is critical.

But several leading airlines have already made this shift. Some are using hybrid models (RBDs + Stock Keeper) as a transition path, while others are going all in. The benefits - speed to market, greater control, and enhanced personalization - are driving adoption.

Closing Thoughts

The move from inventory to Stock Keeper is more than a tech upgrade. It’s a philosophical shift in how airlines think about their products, their customers, and their commerce strategy. For airline technologists, commercial teams, and system architects, it’s time to engage with this model deeply.

If you work in airline retailing, now is the time to get hands-on with Offer and Order - and start asking how the Stock Keeper fits into your airline’s future.