Let's face it –– airlines aren't known for their infrastructure innovations. But applying new, intelligent technology infrastructures can bring them into the modern world and allow them to provide their customers with the right offer, at the right time, at the right price.

After a tragedy occurs at an airport, the public is often shocked. Travelers tend to think that airports are so secure that nothing bad can ever happen. It's not true. We need to accept it, just like we understand that we're not fully secure anywhere we go. It's part of life in America.

We know Latin America's most important economies will turn around at some point, and some airlines will be well positioned to capitalize. We just don't know when. Last week, Copa Airlines warned analysts that business has not been as strong as expected because of woes in Brazil and Argentina.

Airlines are relentless about reducing weight on aircraft to save on fuel bills. That's part of the reason they charge extra to passengers who check bags heavier than 50 pounds. But U.S. airlines don't weigh carry-ons, so as long as travelers satisfy bag size requirements, they can carry on anything they want. Why does this loophole exist? Skift freelancer Micheline Maynard explains.

Most travelers don't realize it, but the loyalty schemes operated by major carriers are wildly profitable. Carriers are racking up big margins selling miles and points to credit card companies for as much as 1.5 cents per point. The banks give the points to consumers as a reward for spending, and consumers redeem them, often for airline seats that would have gone unsold, or would have sold at low fares.

Airline executives love to talk about how personalization will revolutionize their businesses. But the average traveler isn't much interested in receiving bespoke offers from carriers, Decius Valmorbida, president of travel channels for Amadeus, said in June at Skift Tech Forum in Silicon Valley. "They're really after speed," Valmorbida said. "They're saying, 'how can I have instant?'"

Earlier this month I was interviewed by a Forbes contributor who wanted to know why U.S. airlines don't do well in the annual Skytrax rankings of the world's best airlines. Putting aside the suspect nature of the ratings — Is Lufthansa, a fine airline, really a five-star carrier? — I explained it's nearly impossible for airlines like United, Delta, and American to compete on product with ANA or Emirates. U.S. carriers need to be all things to all people, unlike some foreign carriers, which can focus on luxury.

Who says airlines don't listen to passengers? According to Leslie Josephs, the airline industry reporter at CNBC, carriers are increasingly adding healthier foods. Customers say they want them. "Based on the number of requests we get, you'd think 50 percent of people are gluten-free or vegetarian," an Alaska Airlines executive told her.

Yes, this is a real story in The New York Times. Recently, a British Airways customer service agent claims he was fired for wearing a man bun, and Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic for the newspaper, used the incident as a peg to write a piece about airlines and their dress codes. "On the one hand, they revel in trumpeting designer collaborations in the name of modernity and making their employees look and feel as though they are part of the contemporary world," she writes. "On the other, they are endlessly stepping on increasingly accepted forms of self-expression."