The problem with these design critiques is that they are usually very subjective, and provide little rationale for the proposed changes rather than "it's better" in some nebulous way.
How about having a bake-off between the old design and the new design, measuring actual business metrics. Does the new design move the needle on things that actually matter to the business? The airlines no doubt have business measurements around boarding speed, airline employee efficiency, etc. A/B test the old and new design and then if the new design outperforms the old, then you have the start of a cost benefit analysis.
When I used to write mobile apps I'd always butt-heads with the UX designers who would say things like "this control is more usable" and "we should go with a warmer color here". Great, prove it! Test the 41 shades of blue[1]! Measure your hypothesis vs. what we have. If the new design's better usability will bring in more revenue than the old one, we should have no problem justifying it.
How about having a bake-off between the old design and the new design, measuring actual business metrics. Does the new design move the needle on things that actually matter to the business? The airlines no doubt have business measurements around boarding speed, airline employee efficiency, etc. A/B test the old and new design and then if the new design outperforms the old, then you have the start of a cost benefit analysis.
When I used to write mobile apps I'd always butt-heads with the UX designers who would say things like "this control is more usable" and "we should go with a warmer color here". Great, prove it! Test the 41 shades of blue[1]! Measure your hypothesis vs. what we have. If the new design's better usability will bring in more revenue than the old one, we should have no problem justifying it.
1: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/business/01marissa.html