The Idea of an “Airport” in Every Industry
While reading a newsletter recently, I came across a simple but striking idea: “In every industry, there’s an airport.” At first, it sounds like a quirky metaphor. But the more you sit with it, the more it clicks. Airports don’t care which airline wins, which flight is delayed, or which passenger gets upgraded—they collect a fee from everyone who passes through. That same pattern shows up across industries, quietly shaping where power and profits really sit.
This article unpacks that idea. You’ll learn what an “airport layer” is, why it’s so powerful, how it shows up in different sectors, and how to identify it in your own industry. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it—and it might change how you think about business strategy entirely.
What the “Airport Layer” Really Means
The “airport” in an industry is the layer that sits between producers and consumers, collecting a toll regardless of outcomes. It doesn’t need to win the competitive battle below—it just needs to remain essential.
Think about airports themselves. Airlines compete fiercely on routes, pricing, service, and loyalty programs. Some win, some lose. But every airline pays the airport for access, landing rights, gates, and services. The airport’s revenue is tied to activity, not victory.
This pattern shows up everywhere:
App stores take a percentage from developers. Payment gateways charge merchants per transaction. Marketplaces like Amazon or Uber collect fees from sellers and service providers. These platforms don’t need to produce the best product—they just need to own the infrastructure everyone depends on.
What makes the “airport layer” powerful is three things: inevitability, scale, and neutrality. It becomes difficult to bypass, it benefits from network effects, and it profits regardless of which participant succeeds.
(A simple diagram here showing “Producers → Airport Layer → Consumers” would help visualize this concept.)
Why Airport Layers Are Structurally Powerful
The airport layer isn’t just another business—it’s structurally advantaged. While companies below it compete in a zero-sum game, the airport operates in a positive-sum environment.
First, it captures value from every transaction. If 1,000 businesses operate in a market, the airport can earn from all 1,000, rather than betting on just one.
Second, switching costs are often high. Developers can’t easily abandon app stores. Merchants can’t simply stop accepting payments. Airlines can’t skip airports. Once embedded, the airport becomes part of the system’s foundation.
Third, it often benefits from regulation or standardization. Payment networks, operating systems, and infrastructure providers frequently become default choices, reinforcing their dominance.
A great real-world example comes from enterprise IT. As one observer put it, “it’s Microsoft, and it’s not even close.” Whether a company is a 50-person startup or a Fortune 500 giant, it likely pays for Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, or Windows Server licenses. Even vendors in the ecosystem must adapt to Microsoft’s decisions—like licensing changes—almost overnight. That’s classic airport energy: unavoidable, deeply embedded, and consistently profitable.
(A chart comparing revenue stability of “airport” businesses vs. competitive businesses could add clarity here.)
Where to Find Airport Layers
Once you understand the pattern, you can start identifying airport layers in different sectors—but it’s not always obvious.
In tech, it’s relatively clear. Apple and Google (app stores), Stripe and Visa (payments), AWS and Azure (cloud infrastructure) all function as airports. They provide essential infrastructure and collect a cut from activity.
In marketplaces, platforms like Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber act as toll collectors. Sellers and service providers compete intensely, but the platform monetizes every transaction.
In enterprise ecosystems, companies like Microsoft, Salesforce, or SAP often sit at the center, becoming unavoidable layers for operations.
But some industries are more complex. Healthcare, for instance, has many players: patients, providers, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and device manufacturers. It’s harder to pinpoint a single “airport.” One candidate might be electronic medical record (EMR) systems, which connect multiple stakeholders and are difficult to replace once adopted. Another could be insurance networks, which mediate access and payments across the system.
This highlights an important nuance: not every industry has just one airport. Some have multiple overlapping layers, while others have fragmented or evolving ones.
(An infographic mapping different industries to their “airport layers” would work well here.)
How to Identify and Navigate the Airport
If you want to apply this concept, the key is to look beyond obvious competitors and focus on structural roles.
Start by asking: who gets paid no matter who wins? If multiple companies are competing, but one entity profits from all of them, that’s a strong signal.
Next, look at dependency. Which tools, platforms, or intermediaries are nearly impossible to avoid? If removing a layer would break the system, it’s likely an airport.
Then consider pricing power. Airports often have the ability to change pricing or rules with limited pushback, because alternatives are weak or nonexistent.
Finally, examine ecosystem influence. When one company’s decisions ripple across an entire industry—forcing others to adapt—it’s likely operating as an airport.
You can turn this into a simple process:
Map the value chain in your industry. Identify all key players. Look for the layer that connects the most participants. Analyze who collects fees across transactions. Then test how easily that layer could be replaced.
(A step-by-step flow diagram would help illustrate this process clearly.)
Strategic Implications and Final Thoughts
Understanding airport layers isn’t just intellectually interesting—it’s strategically useful.
If you’re building a business, think about whether you’re competing within the system or enabling the system. Competing businesses face constant pressure; enabling layers often capture more stable, long-term value.
If you’re already operating in a competitive space, consider how dependent you are on an airport. Over-reliance can be risky—changes in pricing, policies, or algorithms can impact your margins overnight.
Look for opportunities to reduce dependency or diversify across multiple “airports” where possible. For example, sellers might expand beyond a single marketplace, or developers might build cross-platform applications.
On the flip side, if you can position yourself as an enabling layer—even in a niche—you may unlock stronger leverage and defensibility.
(A comparison table showing “competing business vs. airport-layer business” characteristics could add clarity here.)
The idea that “in every industry, there’s an airport” reframes how we think about competition and power. While most businesses fight for customers, a few sit above the fray, collecting value from the entire ecosystem.
These airport layers are often less visible but more influential. They shape rules, capture consistent revenue, and benefit from the success of others without directly competing.
Once you start looking for them, you’ll see them everywhere—from tech platforms to enterprise software to emerging ecosystems. And the next time you analyze an industry, you might ask a different question: not just “who’s winning?” but “who’s collecting the toll?”
References and Further Reading
To explore this idea further, consider looking into platform economics and network effects. Books like “Platform Revolution” by Geoffrey Parker, Marshall Van Alstyne, and Sangeet Paul Choudary provide a deeper dive into how platform businesses operate.
You might also explore case studies on companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Visa to see how they’ve built and maintained their “airport” positions.
For a more academic angle, research two-sided markets and infrastructure economics, which explain why these layers emerge and why they’re so durable.