Aviation Tech Debt: Modernizing Flight

Aviation isn't just flying planes; it’s managing a massive, distributed state machine where a single null pointer in a 40-year-old COBOL routine can ground 3,000 flights and cost $800 million in a single week. The aviation industry is currently suffocating under a mountain of technical debt that predates the modern internet. While the hardware—the airframes—are meticulously maintained, the software powering Global Distribution Systems (GDS), crew scheduling, and maintenance logs is often a brittle "black box" that no living engineer fully understands.

TL;DR: Modernizing aviation's $3.6 trillion technical debt requires moving away from high-risk "Big Bang" rewrites toward Visual Reverse Engineering with Replay, reducing modernization timelines from years to weeks by using video as the source of truth.

The Archaeology Trap: Why Aviation Modernization Fails#

Most enterprise architects in aviation are forced into "Software Archaeology." When a legacy crew-scheduling system needs an update, the team spends months digging through undocumented codebases, trying to map how a specific UI toggle in a 1994 terminal emulator triggers a database update in a mainframe.

The statistics are damning: 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timeline. In a regulated environment like aviation, where safety and compliance are non-negotiable, a failed rewrite isn't just a budget overrun—it's a systemic risk. Currently, 67% of legacy systems lack any meaningful documentation, leaving architects to guess at business logic that has been patched and re-patched for decades.

The Cost of Manual Extraction#

Traditional manual modernization is a linear, grueling process. To move a single legacy screen to a modern React-based micro-frontend:

• •Manual Discovery: 15 hours
• •Logic Mapping: 15 hours
• •UI/UX Reconstruction: 10 hours
• •Total: ~40 hours per screen.

With Replay, this process is compressed into 4 hours per screen. By recording a real user workflow, Replay’s AI Automation Suite extracts the underlying state transitions, API calls, and business logic, generating documented React components and API contracts automatically.

Comparing Modernization Strategies#

⚠️ Warning: The "Big Bang" rewrite is the single greatest threat to an aviation CTO's tenure. Attempting to replace a core GDS or reservation system in one go almost always results in "feature creep" and catastrophic integration failures.

From Black Box to Documented Codebase#

The fundamental problem in aviation tech debt is the "Black Box" effect. You know the input (a gate agent clicks 'Board') and the output (the passenger manifest updates), but the 15 middleware layers in between are a mystery.

Replay changes the paradigm by using video as the source of truth. Instead of reading code to understand behavior, you record the behavior to generate the code.

Step 1: Visual Recording of Workflows#

A subject matter expert (SME) or QA lead performs a standard task—like rebooking a flight during a weather delay—within the legacy system. Replay records the DOM mutations, network requests, and state changes.

Step 2: Extraction via Replay Blueprints#

The Replay engine analyzes the recording. It identifies recurring UI patterns and maps them to your organization's Design System (stored in the Replay Library). It doesn't just copy the old UI; it maps the old logic to new components.

Step 3: Generating API Contracts#

Aviation systems rely on complex, often proprietary protocols (EDIFACT, Teletype, etc.). Replay’s AI Automation Suite observes these data exchanges and generates modern OpenAPI/Swagger specifications.

typescript
// Example: Generated API Contract from a Replay Recording
// Source: Legacy Crew Scheduling Terminal (1992)
// Target: Modern RESTful Microservice

export interface FlightCrewAssignment {
  flightId: string;
  crewId: string[];
  departureGate: string;
  status: 'BOARDING' | 'DELAYED' | 'CANCELLED';
  // Logic preserved: "If status is DELAYED > 120m, trigger FAA rest-rule check"
  requiresRestValidation: boolean;
}

/**
 * Automatically generated by Replay AI Suite
 * Extracted from workflow: "Manual Crew Reassignment"
 */
export async function updateCrewAssignment(data: FlightCrewAssignment) {
  const response = await fetch('/api/v1/crew/assign', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: JSON.stringify(data),
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }
  });
  return response.json();
}

Bridging the Gap: The Replay Flow Architecture#

In aviation, you cannot simply "turn off" the legacy system. You need a bridge. Replay’s Flows feature creates a visual map of the entire system architecture, identifying which legacy modules are candidates for extraction and which can be "strangled" over time.

💡 Pro Tip: Focus on "High-Value, Low-Complexity" modules first. In aviation, this is often the customer-facing check-in kiosks or mobile boarding pass generators, rather than the core weight-and-balance calculators.

Modernizing the UI without Losing the Logic#

A common pitfall is modernizing a UI but missing a critical piece of "hidden" business logic—for example, a specific tax calculation for international flights that only triggers on Tuesdays. Because Replay records the actual execution, it captures these edge cases that are often missing from documentation.

tsx
// Example: Modernized React Component generated via Replay Blueprints
import { useAviationDesignSystem } from '@company/design-system';
import { validateRestRules } from './logic/faa-compliance';

export const CrewAssignmentPanel = ({ flightData }) => {
  const { Button, Card, Alert } = useAviationDesignSystem();

  // Logic extracted from legacy 'Green Screen' behavior
  const isOverworked = validateRestRules(flightData.crew);

  return (
    <Card title={`Flight ${flightData.id} Assignment`}>
      {isOverworked && (
        <Alert type="error">
          Warning: Crew exceeds FAA duty hour limitations.
        </Alert>
      )}
      <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-4">
        {/* UI components mapped from Replay Library */}
        <Button variant="primary" disabled={isOverworked}>
          Confirm Assignment
        </Button>
      </div>
    </Card>
  );
};

💰 ROI Insight: By automating the extraction of these components, enterprise teams see an average 70% time savings. What used to take an 18-month roadmap is now being delivered in 12 weeks.

Security and Compliance in Regulated Sky#

Aviation is a highly regulated industry. Any tool used in the modernization stack must meet stringent security requirements. Replay is built for these environments:

• •SOC2 Type II & HIPAA-ready: Ensuring data integrity.
• •On-Premise Deployment: For airlines that cannot allow data to leave their private cloud.
• •PII Masking: Replay automatically masks sensitive passenger data during the recording and extraction process, ensuring compliance with GDPR and APIS regulations.

The Roadmap to Modern Flight#

Step 1: Technical Debt Audit#

Use Replay to audit your existing screens. Identify which 20% of the system handles 80% of the user traffic. This prevents "Modernization Fatigue" where teams try to fix everything at once.

Step 2: Record "Golden Paths"#

Have your most experienced operators record the "Golden Paths"—the critical workflows that must not break. These recordings become the technical specification for the new system.

Step 3: Automated E2E Test Generation#

One of the most powerful features of Replay is its ability to generate E2E tests (Playwright/Cypress) from the legacy recording. This ensures that the new system behaves exactly like the old one, providing a safety net for the migration.

Step 4: Component Synthesis#

Using Replay Blueprints, convert the recorded flows into a library of React components that are pre-integrated with your new backend APIs.

📝 Note: Modernization is not a one-time event; it’s a capability. By using Replay, you aren't just fixing one system; you're building a factory for continuous legacy evolution.

Frequently Asked Questions#

How does Replay handle mainframes or terminal emulators?#

Replay operates at the presentation and network layers. If a user interacts with it via a web-based terminal or a desktop client, Replay can record the session. It extracts the data patterns and UI logic regardless of whether the backend is COBOL, Java, or C++.

Can Replay handle complex business logic preservation?#

Yes. Because Replay captures the "state" before and after user actions, it can identify the logic rules applied during the session. Our AI Automation Suite then translates these rules into TypeScript/JavaScript logic for the modern application.

What is the typical timeline for an aviation project?#

While a full GDS overhaul is a multi-year strategy, specific modules (like a Passenger Service System interface) can be extracted and modernized in 2 to 8 weeks using Replay, compared to the 6-9 months required for manual extraction.

Is the generated code maintainable?#

Unlike "low-code" platforms that create proprietary lock-in, Replay generates standard React, TypeScript, and CSS. The code is yours, it resides in your Git repository, and it follows your team's coding standards.

---

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay - see your legacy screen extracted live during the call.