Some travel management company representatives are unhappy with revisions to American Airlines’ ARC agreement addendum that set conditions for fees charged to their clients on bookings with the airline. Some TMCs have told clients they would need to charge higher fees on NDC bookings to cover reduced productivity and GDS incentive revenue. Precedents for this…
Airline officials and other proponents of the New Distribution Capability have described its servicing challenges as “edge cases,” but travel management companies are finding more than that. Limitations on exchanges and unused ticket tracking are the most crucial on growing lists of issues. It’s no wonder that, by most accounts, corporate adoption of American’s NDC…
“I’m gravely concerned.” Jeffrey Verman’s 26-year-old travel agency has been through multiple crises. The hit he expects from NDC-enabled airline programs is extra bitter, coming as it will from business partners rather than a virus or terrorist. “I survived 9/11, SARS, recessions, wars,” said Verman, CEO of Toronto-based Plus Travel Group, which is handling about…
The American Society of Travel Advisors this month plans to offer training for those interested in the corporate travel agency environment. ASTA SVP of industry affairs and education Mark Meader called it a “missing component in the industry today.” Travel management companies do their own training, but the industry needs all the help it can…
“Blended” travel at American Airlines is trending down and approaching its historical level, potentially undermining one element of a narrative about why the company changed just about everything it does with the managed corporate travel market. Some of its arguments about how the market has changed met with skepticism. That doesn’t mean it’s going to…
More than half of travel buyers surveyed by the Global Business Travel Association this month said some airlines were rolling out programs using the New Distribution Capability “too quickly.” Four in five said they needed more info and education about NDC. Sixty percent of the 277 polled buyers said they did not support the approach…
Are American and Southwest switching places? No, the low-fare flag bearer isn’t going global, adding business class or assigning seats. But in some critical ways for the corporate market, Southwest is behaving more like its crosstown rival, while that rival is moving in the other direction. As it does for Delta and United, American’s strategy…
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