Travel management company executives have mixed views on the American Airlines New Distribution Capability program announced Friday. Some are fine with it, acknowledging there is work to do. More are happy with the airline’s creativity but concerned about the technical and process challenges. Unease about the impact of direct bookings on agent and tech productivity…
American Airlines will pay participating travel agencies $2 per net segment booked and ticketed using certified NDC connections at all points of sale on AA-marketed flights. The program requires agencies to cover distribution costs, but comes with a near-term content parity commitment. It also enables new possibilities for corporate bundles, waiver-and-favor management and risk management data. They’re…
[UPDATE, May 26, 2017: IAG informed industry partners that British Airways and Iberia would add a $10 fee as of Nov. 1, essentially for each one-way trip, on tickets purchased in global distribution systems. The fee will be displayed as a “Q charge” in fare constructions, and included in itinerary fare quotes. Refunds will align with the…
Sometimes the things we write about peter out. Sometimes more developments happen, but they don’t warrant an entirely new article. In other cases, something unexpected or counterintuitive is noteworthy in its continuance. Hence, the Updates post. Click to jump to United’s carbon emissions pledge to corporate clients, Upside’s launch, proliferating Basic Economy airfares, PayForTrip’s pause,…
[UPDATE, March 22, 2017: U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield denied Sabre’s motion to set aside the verdict against it. She cited case law explaining that such a motion can be granted “only if there exists such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury’s findings could only have been the result of…
The US Airways v. Sabre antitrust case now is in the jury’s hands. The evidence it’s considering does not include everything Sabre wanted it to know. Most notably, the jury didn’t hear about Sabre’s claim that US Airways pursued a “sign-and-sue” strategy. According to the argument, US Airways baited Sabre into rejecting a last-minute request…
New York – In its lawsuit against Sabre, American Airlines contends that US Airways in 2011 had “no choice” but to accept purportedly onerous terms for participating in the global distribution system. Witnesses for the airline alleged that Sabre insisted on a contract for full content, or else US Airways risked being out of the…
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