Some conversations remind you why innovation is worthwhile. At bolderSummit 2025, we met with Mauricio Sana, CEO of Flybondi, Argentina’s first low-cost airline; a Colombian systems engineer, who combines numbers and empathy to achieve something simple and powerful: “allowing more people to fly.”
If you lead an airline, whether in operations, digital, or revenue, this talk is for you. We explored leadership that builds trust, data-driven decisions, and how well-applied technology reduces friction. At be bolder, we understand the vision of airlines and help turn it into working solutions.
A culture that turns trips into stories
The freedom to fly isn’t just a nice slogan; it becomes real when, before takeoff, the crew asks who’s flying for the first time, and on many routes, nearly 20% raise their hands. This simple gesture serves as a reminder of the purpose: to open the skies to more people and transform a trip into the beginning of a story worth telling when the passenger looks up at the sky again.
When people on the plane applaud, it’s not a whim: it’s a shared moment that tells the first-timer, “Yes, we can.” It strengthens identity, shortens distances, and turns an everyday flight into a memory. Culture is service in action: clarity, friendliness, and simple processes that people understand. This is how a brand idea becomes an experience and preference. Measurable in NPS and repetition.
Purposeful leadership and data-driven decisions
For Mauricio, leadership begins with a simple idea: putting people at the center and using data to guide everything else. His training as a systems engineer isn’t just a biographical detail; it’s the foundation of a management approach that prioritizes evidence over assumptions and translates numbers into decisions with real impact.
That purpose is grounded in a concrete metric: more people flying. It’s about creating trips that change days and decisions. That’s where leadership becomes practical: aligning personal and corporate goals, measuring what matters, and executing with discipline. The result is a culture where intuition is contrasted with data: market share, fleet, punctuality, distribution, and operational efficiency.
Numbers that support the strategy
Milestones aren’t counted for bragging rights, but rather to validate that the strategy is working:
Innovate without dogma, efficient ops and transparency
At Flybondi, innovation doesn’t come from a manual. It comes from reality. Mauricio prefers to challenge the model rather than copy it. He takes what works, discards what doesn’t, and designs processes suited to the Argentine context. He favors fewer labels and more operational logic. If something doesn’t add efficiency or value to passengers, it’s rewritten without nostalgia.
This is how an unorthodox model is born: operating where appropriate, integrating critical issues, and expanding when it adds value. If a practice adds minutes or costs, it’s rewritten; if it improves the experience, it’s scaled. The result is pure pragmatism: punctuality that’s noticeable, controlled costs, and decisions that are felt on the ground and in the cabin, not just in presentations.
- Ground operations as a driver of efficiency: By integrating the ramp and aligning objectives, turnarounds are reduced, SLAs are protected, and the aircraft spends more time in the air.
- Distribution is designed to take care of the passenger: The foundation is proprietary channels, and agencies participate when they add value. The focus is simple: sell clearly, directly, and fairly.
- The customer pays only for what they use: Checked baggage, meals, and extras are optional, not mandatory. Transparency comes before labels, and clarity before forced bundles.
Technology with a purpose: Vision and applied cases
Mauricio’s approach doesn’t stop at “automating for the sake of automating.” Technology works if it removes friction, modernizes obsolete processes, and makes the journey simpler for the passenger and work more fluid for the team. Problem first, then the solution: clear processes, reliable data, and small releases that deliver visible value.
- Blockchain for name changes and a responsible market
Changing the ticket name is allowed without bureaucracy and under clear rules, but selling below the original price is prohibited. This provides security for everyone and opens the door to a secondary market that protects the brand and the passenger. - Onboard payments without connectivity and agile e-commerce
Paying by card without an internet connection is possible by recording transactions during the flight and synchronizing them after landing. On the ground, the magic of e-commerce lies in integrating inventory, pricing, reconciliation, and customer service to make everything simple. - Modernizing legacy systems to a current architecture
Much of the industry operates on foundations from another era. The way is not a “one-stop shop,” but modules and APIs that replace critical parts with controlled risk. Less dependency, faster change, and features that passengers now expect by default. - Smart back-office: legal, maintenance, and supply with traceability
Signing contracts faster, tracking spare parts in real-time, and ordering materials change the operational equation. The result is fewer bottlenecks, reduced parts-related cancellations, and greater fleet availability. Customers don’t see these flows, but they do notice punctuality. - AI applied to operational and financial predictions
Committee minutes ready in minutes, early indicators of spare parts use, and models that anticipate financial impacts mean fewer repetitive tasks and more focus on decisions. The rule is simple: focus on cases with clear ROI, governed data, and teams trained to use and improve the model. - Accessibility and simplicity to reach low-tech customers
The next growth is in those who are not digital. Simple forms, clear language, legible font sizes, and guided payment options. Assisted channels that accompany without friction, so a 70 or 80-year-old can buy and fly without fear. Technology that opens doors, not asks for credentials.
Ideas that inspire us
We’ve reached the end of this enriching talk to confirm, once again, that technology is the ideal medium capable of making the vision of leaders like Mauricio Sana, CEO of Flybondi, a reality. If you identify with Mauricio and his disruptive ideas, be bolder can help you achieve your boldest dreams.
Let us know how you want to transform your airline, and we’ll provide you with the best team capable of developing cutting-edge travel tech solutions, tailored to your needs, to help you take your company as far as you can imagine.
Commercial Team
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* Image by Design team on bebolder.co
