Hi! I am Alexi Thornton,

**founder of epalithia …**

I come from a rich tapestry of cultures, blending my Greek heritage with British and Australian influences.

I have a lifelong passion for all things travel, customer and employee experiences.

My early exposure to the travel industry and the Greek tradition of philoxenia instilled in me a deep appreciation for hospitality and human connection.

Whilst exploring the world through multiple industry roles, I built expertise in front-line customer service, airline operations, and online travel agency fulfilment. Later, transitioning into the SaaS side of the industry, I worked with multinational airlines and travel agencies, helping them navigate the complexities of digital transformation for passenger communications.

I now help businesses uncover what stands between their customers and seamless journeys, so that they feel valued and employees operate with confidence.

CONTACT

The Evolution of Offer & Order: Moving beyond NDC to modern retailing frameworks and GDS/PSS integration.

Disruption & Interlining Realities: The operational challenges of managing broken connections, luggage transfers, and ancillaries when things go wrong. -

Decoupling Fares & Ancillaries: How unbundling business class seats and custom route connections changes passenger expectations. -

Breaking Data Silos: Overcoming fragmented systems across CRM, PRN data, and customer support.

Real-Time Signal Mining: Moving from delayed surveys to real-time feedback collection and immediate social media issue resolution.

My work and experience

Roots & Resilience: Escaping expectations in 1980s Greece and finding a niche in UK aviation during an economic downturn.

Frontline Airport Realities: Surviving five years on Heathrow shifts, dealing with clunky legacy reservation systems (BABS), and the human psychology of travel disruption.

The Rise of Travel Tech: Joining Opodo at inception, filing fares, launching through 9/11, and bridging the gap between developers and operational reality.

Scaling Down Under with 15Below: Expanding passenger disruption communications across APAC and partnering with airlines across Oceania and Asia.

Mastering Service Design: Walking in the customer’s shoes, mapping cross-departmental journeys, and breaking operational silos to solve passenger pain points.