As a percentage of airline passengers boarded globally, those who booked via global distribution systems in the years leading up to the pandemic roughly equaled those who booked directly with carriers. That changed when corporate travel all but evaporated. Leisure travelers booking on airline websites took a greater share, and the balance isn't back.
Whether it will return depends largely on corporate travel's recovery, but many airline leaders would like to see the recovery feature a shift in corporate travel toward direct. That they want more direct is nothing new. Building a direct booking facility . . .