"I've always said every stage of my career has led me to this role. It feels like coming home," says Peter Egglestone, CEO of Aeronology.
For decades, booking an airline ticket has relied on systems built long before smartphones, cloud computing and modern digital platforms existed.
While travellers rarely see what happens behind the scenes, travel agents often navigate a complex web of airline content, booking systems and distribution platforms to find the best fares for their customers.
Aeronology, the Melbourne travel technology company, has developed a platform that brings together airline content from multiple sources into a single search and booking environment.
This lets travel agents work more efficiently while giving them greater access to fares, flexibility airline ticketing and better customer servicing tools.
At its core, Aeronology's mission is to reduce complexity and return more value to travel agents. For Peter, it's a challenge he has spent most of his career preparing for.
From accounting to travel
Peter's original career plan looked very different. His father expected him to become a chartered accountant, so Peter studied economics and accounting at university to appease him.
His father had already helped arrange an opportunity with a major accounting firm after Peter graduated, but then Peter made a surprising decision.
"I told my father I wanted to work in the travel industry," he says. Travel had fascinated him from an early age.
He studied airline timetables for fun, memorised airline codes and became captivated by the way global aviation connected people and places.
To Peter, travel wasn't just an industry, it was an endless source of curiosity.
His father's response would stay with him throughout his career. "He said, 'Promise me one thing. Whatever you do, be the absolute best at it.'"
Peter took that advice seriously. Breaking into the industry without any travel experience wasn't easy, but he found a way to combine his accounting background with his passion for aviation.
He started in finance roles in travel businesses, learning how the industry operated from the inside out. Before long, his curiosity extended beyond balance sheets, statutory accounts and financial reports.
He wanted to understand how the entire travel ecosystem worked. Why were certain decisions made? How did distribution operate? Where were the inefficiencies? And most importantly, how could things be improved?
Learning every corner of the industry
Over the next three decades, Peter built a career that took him through almost every aspect of travel.
He worked across airline negotiations, ticket distribution, wholesale travel, commercial strategy, payments processing and executive leadership.
One career-defining moment came in 2008 when a CEO challenged him to step outside his comfort zone. At the time, Peter was working in finance. The CEO offered him an opportunity to take responsibility for airline partnerships and supplier negotiations.
For someone who naturally considered himself an introvert, it represented a significant shift.
"It was probably the most important career move I ever made," says Peter.
The role forced him to develop new skills, build relationships and learn how to negotiate with some of the world's largest airlines.
It also reinforced an important lesson that would shape his leadership philosophy. People are often far more willing to help than we expect.
Over the years, Peter sought advice from mentors, colleagues and industry leaders. In return, he became a mentor himself, supporting the next generation of travel professionals.
The first thing he asks every mentee to promise is that one day they will pass that support onto someone else. "It's how industries get stronger," he says.
Modernising decades-old technology
While Peter's career took him through some of the biggest travel businesses in Australia and overseas, he kept seeing the same problem. The technology powering airline distribution wasn't evolving as quickly as customer expectations.
Travel agents were often forced to search multiple systems to find the best fares and airlines distributed content through different channels.
New distribution technologies were emerging, but these created additional complexity rather than reducing it.
At the same time, agents were losing valuable time navigating systems that weren't designed to work together.
For Peter, the problem wasn't simply technological, it was also operational.
"The travel agent is the one helping the customer make a decision," he says. "They should have access to the best content as easily as possible." That belief sits at the heart of Aeronology's platform.
Bringing airline content together
Founded in 2019, Aeronology was created to modernise the way travel agents access airline content.
The company aggregates content from traditional Global Distribution Systems alongside newer airline distribution technologies, known as New Distribution Capability.
While the terminology may sound technical, the goal is rather than forcing agents to search multiple platforms, Aeronology brings everything together in one place.
The platform allows travel agents to compare options, issue tickets and manage bookings through a modern interface without needing to rely on decades-old command-based systems.
Much of Aeronology’s process is automated, and systems that once required specialised technical knowledge can now be completed through a simpler workflow.
The result is a platform designed to save time, reduce complexity and improve efficiency.
Just as importantly, Aeronology is committed to transparency. Rather than retaining commissions traditionally paid to travel agents, the company returns those funds directly to the people making the bookings.
"We want agents to keep more of what they've earned," says Peter. "Our job is to provide technology and value."
Building with patience
Like many startups, Aeronology's journey hasn't been without challenges. Introducing new technology into a mature industry requires patience.
Many travel systems have been refined over decades, and replacing or improving them isn't something that happens overnight.
Peter believes one of the biggest mistakes technology companies make is trying to solve too many problems at once.
Instead, Aeronology has remained focused on building a platform that improves the travel agent experience. That means being selective about which airline integrations are introduced and ensuring new features meet the needs of users before they are released.
"We've always tried to focus on solving the real problem first," he says. The company is now preparing for its next phase of growth, including partnerships that could see its technology rolled out across much larger travel networks.
A heartbeat in a community
As Aeronology continues to grow, Stone & Chalk continues to play an important role in supporting the team.
For Peter, the value extends far beyond office space. One of the biggest challenges for any startup is creating a sense of momentum and belonging. Without that shared environment, teams can quickly become disconnected.
"Stone & Chalk has given us a heartbeat," says Peter. "It's given us a place where people come together and feel part of something."
The space benefits are important too. Having access to facilities, meeting rooms and infrastructure allows the team to focus on building the business rather than worrying about operational distractions.
Just as valuable is the community. Peter has enjoyed connecting with founders from completely different industries, sharing ideas and learning from people tackling similar growth challenges.
"There's always someone interesting to talk to," he says. "You never know where a conversation is going to lead."
Never stop talking to people
If there's one lesson Peter has learnt throughout his career, it's the importance of staying curious.
Some of his most valuable professional relationships have started with simple conversations. A chance meeting, or a question asked, or an introduction accepted.
Even today, he believes many people underestimate the power of listening.
Peter reiterates a lesson his parents taught him at a young age. "God gave you two ears and one mouth," he says. "Use them in that proportion."
It's this advice he credits with shaping both his leadership style and his career. Listen carefully, stay curious, ask questions and never assume you already know all the answers.
Preparing for the next chapter
Today, Aeronology operates across Australia, the United States and South Africa, with ambitions to continue expanding globally.
For Peter, however, success is found in building technology that helps people do their jobs better.
After decades in travel, he understands the pressures agents face and the complexity behind every booking.
Aeronology's goal is to remove some of that friction and make accessing airline content easier, faster and more transparent. And for someone who chose travel over accounting all those years ago, it feels like exactly the right place to be.
"I thought I was retired a couple of times," Peter laughs. "But every time I come back to travel, it reminds me why I fell in love with the industry in the first place."
For Peter, the destination has never really changed. It's simply taken a few interesting stops to get there.
