Delta Air Lines has dropped a bombshell on non-Iata agents and announced that the airline will remove access to Delta products and services from non-Iata (and in the US, non-ARC) -accredited travel agencies via the Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre GDSs.
Delta says the change, effective from January 8, is being implemented to protect their customers and mitigate future inventory abuse and fraud.
A Delta spokesperson told Travel News that the decision taken by the airline was a part of continued efforts to combat fraudulent and abusive bookings of Delta fares.
“We are looking at violations of Delta’s rules, policies, and contract of carriage in removing access to Delta products and services from non-Iata travel agencies.”
According to Delta’s ‘professional agent’ resources webpage, the airline will also cancel unticketed bookings that are identified as fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise made using practices prohibited by the carrier. Delta confirmed that where such bookings have already been ticketed, it will not cancel the tickets but handle those documents according to existing processes and policies for fraudulent tickets.
Do airlines fight fraud?
According to Iata, payment fraud in the airline industry is measured on the gross amount of fraud chargebacks and rejected bookings. For most of the world, the average rate of bookings rejected is 3,8%, and North America experiences double this figure - this could mean that North American airlines have to be more cautious.
Overall, full-service carriers reject over twice as many bookings as low-cost carriers – 4,5% compared with 2%.
A representative from ACI Worldwide, a global firm specialising in software and payment solutions for airlines, told Travel News that the company supports airlines globally by facilitating the analysis of crucial transaction trends.
“These systems enable airlines to acquire valuable insights, empowering them to implement timely and effective rule adjustments within their fraud systems as deemed necessary. By leveraging automation and AI, airlines can establish a comprehensive understanding of customer behaviour profiles, ensuring continuous, effective monitoring and updates to existing fraud prevention strategies.”
When asked how Delta will implement these checks and what agents who have issued Delta tickets should ne alert to, the airline declined to clarify.
“Delta is unable to proactively contact any customer with a cancelled reservation due to lack of customer information in the reservation,” said the Delta spokesperson.
“Booking agencies will receive a special service request (SSR), which will provide the agent a reason code in the PNR at the time of booking cancellation.”
Customers with legitimate tickets should contact their original servicing agency to have any itinerary changes made by the ticketing agency. For assistance, Delta’s trade partners may contact their usual dedicated trade support teams.
To gain access to Delta’s products and services, a travel agency must be accredited with ARC for US-based agents or Iata for non-US-based agents.
