Hailed as a solution for the challenges of fare unbundling, NDC has been in development for nine years. What does it have to show for corporate clients? A rebundled fare, theoretical savings, “whatnot” and “whatever.” Oh, and new distribution fees. “So, nothing new or innovative,” according to former Sabre executive Martin Cowley. Cowley got into…
At the end of 2020, Sabre and Southwest Airlines announced they had come to terms on a “full participation” agreement. Some might not be clear on how that differs from the notion of “full content,” a pillar of airline-global distribution system agreements for going on 18 years that could be on the outs. Before jurisdictions…
An agreement announced this week between Lufthansa Group and Sabre, parties with a contentious and litigious shared history, implied a mutually beneficial path forward for airlines and global distribution systems. However, there are many unknowns, and not everyone will be a winner. If Lufthansa and Sabre can agree on GDS distribution of ancillary services and…
There’s a line of thinking that says the pandemic is widening a gap between Amadeus and its key rivals, Sabre and Travelport. Not only was Amadeus already using more modern infrastructure, the theory says, but it also genuinely bought into XML-based distribution and related NDC protocols sooner. These factors position it best with airlines that…
With reaction, assessment and recovery on their minds, corporate travel professionals understandably did not focus closely on airline distribution developments this year. Inasmuch as they did, for some, it was a question of how the relevant systems could help the response to the pandemic — or not. There’s some debate about how soon the usually…
[UPDATE, Jan. 13, 2023: This work did not proceed. We published newer info here.”] AmTrav Corporate Travel agreed to start using Journera’s data exchange platform. It is the first travel management company to do so. Founded in 2015 and launched a year later, Journera wants to be the glue in an interconnected travel ecosystem. It…
Leisure travel bookings continue to recover faster than corporate, which remains down 80 percent year over year, according to Sabre. Speaking with analysts on Friday, Sabre president and CEO Sean Menke said, “We don’t see corporate bookings starting to recover until 2021.” He pointed to intense focus on duty of care and the impact of…
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