Opportunity
The IT provider for the global aviation industry arrived at the Passenger Terminal Expo (PTE) world conference in London in March 2026 with a message the industry needed to hear: AI is capable of doubling passenger throughput without adding a single square metre of terminal space. From biometric boarding that cuts queues to predictive maintenance that prevents delays and AI-driven tools that trim aviation’s carbon footprint, the company’s executives had a compelling case to make.
The challenge was ensuring that the story reached a broad consumer and travel audience, not just the industry insiders already in the room at PTE. With senior leadership on the ground in London for only a short window, the client needed Montieth & Company’s marketing communications and PR services to convert that presence into top-tier, high-impact media access, fast.
Solution
Montieth & Company’s media relations approach centered on matching the client’s AI narrative to the right journalist at the right moment. Rather than targeting trade press alone, we identified Simon Calder, the UK’s most prominent consumer travel journalist, whose Independent Travel Podcast reaches a mainstream audience of frequent flyers, as the ideal voice to carry the story beyond the aviation technology community. We approached Calder directly with a specific angle: that one bag goes missing on every typical 160-passenger holiday flight, and that AI is the mechanism to fix it. The pitch connected the client’s technical expertise to the everyday frustrations of ordinary travellers. Calder agreed to meet two senior executives in person in London, a VP of Product Management and a VP of Strategy & Innovation, to record a dedicated podcast episode during the conference.
Result
The episode of Simon Calder’s Independent Travel Podcast, “Lost bags and inefficient airports: can things really only get better?” was released. Two of the client’s vice-presidents were featured, discussing baggage tracking, airport capacity, and AI-driven operational improvements directly with one of Britain’s most trusted travel voices. The placement gave the client consumer-facing credibility that trade conference coverage cannot deliver: positioning its executives as authoritative voices on the future of air travel for the passengers who experience it every day.