AMERICAN Airlines (AA)
has announced that it
will start paying travel
agents a commission again
on the condition that they
book through the NDC. Other
airlines, including SAA, have
said they may follow suit in the
future.
Travel agents who decide to
participate in American’s NDC
Incentive Programme will be
entitled to a flat rate of US$2
(R26) per flight segment. The
incentive applies to all AA
marketed flights booked and
ticketed using an AA-approved
NDC connection, as well as
all interline partners who have
activated AA’s NDC connection.
A spokesperson for American
Airlines told TNW the carrier
would also pay commission
to South African travel agents
who opted into the programme,
although at this stage none
has done so.
Spokesperson for SAA, Tlali
Tlali, says American Airlines is
not the first airline to embrace
the NDC. “This capability
literally ensures that the
travel agents link up directly
with an airline’s inventory
and they circumvent the
GDSs. This means that these
airlines are able to reduce, if
not completely remove, the
cost of having their inventory
distributed through a third party
– the GDS in this case.”
SAA has also been evaluating
the value of Iata’s NDC and
Tlali told TNW a decision would
be made based on the benefits
to SAA’s business. “When the
decision is made, factors such
as the role travel agents will
play will be considered as well
as how the airline determines
its compensation policy in
agreement with the travel
agents.”
Although the introduction
of commissions for bookings
through the NDC could be
seen as a threat to the
GDS, Travelport told TNW its
current expectation was that
customers would continue to
use the GDS. Robyn Christie,
gm of Travelport in South
Africa, says agency bookings
through the GDS represent a
highly cost-efficient distribution
channel.
“With so-called direct
connections, agencies lack the
benefits of the GDS, such as
workflow automation, change
management, customer
servicing, agency robotics,
customer booking changes,
integrated itineraries, managing
airline changes such as
schedule alterations and
disruptions, the provision of
data for customer reports
and invoicing amongst other
services. The GDS channel is
the only place where all such
activities can be performed
smoothly and efficiently in
one place.”
Richard Addey, Sabre country
director, South Africa, said it
was ready to work with any
airline that wished to use NDC
channels. “We are ready to
adapt to changing distribution
methods. As a technology
partner to airlines and agents,
we are engaged with Iata and
will incorporate NDC standards
and other emerging technology
capabilities, as needed, to
serve the needs of all our
customers.”
Amadeus says it is working
with Iata to evolve NDC-XML
into a standard that can be
widely adopted and generate
economies of scale at
industry level. An Amadeus
spokesperson added:
“Collaboration across the
industry is critical to
successful adoption.”
Inge Beadle, co-owner of
corporate Travel Services,
agrees and says working
directly with the airlines
complicates matters such as
changes and re-issues, which
are more easily done through
the GDS.
Inge says whether travel
agents will consider direct
bookings will also depend on
what they ‘earn’ from their
GDS for each sector booked.
Travel agency participation
in American’s NDC Incentive
Programme is completely
optional. Travel agents who
don’t book through the NDC
will not receive penalties, as
is the case with other airlines,
such as Lufthansa and British
Airways.
