NDC
RESERVING JUDGEMENT The GDSs are in a tricky position, reflected by the relative wall of silence from Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. It is understood that all three are reluctant to comment on the record about what each sees as a work-in- progress; once more is known about how NDC will work in practice, we can expect a barrage of releases, white papers and conference appearances. Sabre was the most vocal protestor before the shutters came down. Its party-line remains: “Our observations are based on a detailed analysis of everything IATA has said, and put simply, we don’t see how it would work without sacrificing fare transparency, limiting comparison shopping and compromising data privacy rights.” One aspect of NDC which Amadeus was prepared to comment on is the potential increase in pressure on airlines’ websites. It noted: “If TMCs,
“No-one knows about the implementation costs for NDC yet”
online travel agencies and aggregators are all polling airlines’ websites for price and availability data, some smaller sites may not be robust enough to take the additional traffic.” Travelport also says that it is waiting for more details. However, it pointed out that it is working on products which address IATA’s concerns. It is working with Easyjet, accessing Easyjet’s API and integrating all Easyjet content into its systems so that its seats and ancillaries show up alongside the traditional GDS content when agents are searching. Air Canada and KLM are other airlines which are working with Travelport to create specific APIs that connect the airlines’ websites with the GDS. Other deals are in the pipeline.
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EXAMINING PROPOSALS The response from airlines is similarly circumspect. British Airways has declined to comment, although it is understood that it was one of the carriers that led the project when it was being brewed up behind closed doors at IATA meetings. Lufthansa Group did comment,
telling BBT: “Lufthansa is one of the airlines actively involved in the working groupset up to examine and
THE CAFGA FACTOR
IATA COMMISSIONED Atmosphere Research Group to look at the future of airline distribution to 2017. The report identified five familiar brands that airline executives should be aware of, which it dubbed ‘CAFGA’: Concur, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon. The report didn’t make a specific link between these brands and NDC, but said these brands warrant “ongoing scrutiny”. Here are some of its comments:
“Concur knows more about your passengers than you do” After buying Trip It in 2011, Concur now sits on massive volumes of customer insight and data, and will leverage this by selling the data to airlines and through Trip It’s marketing solutions. Trip It can create a ‘super PNR’ (passenger name record), and Concur can integrate user-data into a comprehensive data warehouse.
“Facebook knows how your passengers live their lives” Facebook’s semantic data, search data and advertising insights, coupled with its ability to process reservations and its growing capabilities in mobile, make the site powerful due to the data it is aggregating.
“Google will do everything but fly your aircraft” Google can use its power and reach to facilitate or interfere with the relationship an airline and passenger have with one another. Even if it chooses to facilitate the relationship, Google can make that access extremely expensive, or force an airline to use a certain product if the airline wants to reach passengers through a specific channel.
“Apple’s Passbook may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing” Passbook, Apple’s new mobile wallet, can store a traveller’s loyalty programme account information, boarding passes, coupons and more. Atmosphere believes Passbook has the potential to threaten the airline-passenger relationship and is Apple’s ‘Trojan horse’ into the travel space.
“Amazon is the world’s retail marketplace” Amazon may not sell travel directly, but its Amazon Web Services division hosts various transactional websites. It is entering the mobile-wallet space. Amazon is a very powerful retailing hub, and is positioning itself to be a factor in how airlines sell, and how passengers buy, air travel.
discuss the proposed IATA initiative. It is important for Lufthansa that as a leading player in the airline industry we are closely involved with these discussions and have some influence in relation to the decisions being taken.” So, despite IATA’s attempts to share and engage all stakeholders by making a wealth of information available online, there are concerned voices being heard. Our travel tech insider told BBT that “ultimately, it means that the airlines can charge more if there is less transparency with fares and the ability to compare is limited”. The source also pointed out that for TMCs and agents, going directly to the airline could end up with more costs being passed on to the traveller, because the economics of NDC are still unsure.
There was the possibility that airlines might start charging TMCs for queries as well as bookings.
NDC has taken the industry by storm – and Ken McLeod, corporate director with responsibility for airline relationships and business travel at Advantage Travel Centres, has seen a lot of similar storms in his many years in the travel business. He has also been involved in IATA working groups on NDC. “You can’t stop progress,” he says. “Airlines want to take control of their fares and yields, and there is new technology which is enabling them to distribute differently. “GDSs have been investing hundreds
of millions in this over the years, but no- one knows about the implementation costs for NDC yet. It is not pie in the sky, but it is a huge undertaking of enormous proportions.” ■
MARCH/APRIL 2013
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