TRAVEL agents don’t
seem to know very much
about the NDC – a new,
XML-based data transmission
standard that enhances the
capability of communications
between airlines and travel
agents – despite the NDC
being discussed at length in
travel trade publications.
Iata’s research shows that
more than half (53%) of the
agencies that participated
in the survey hadn’t heard
of NDC before they took the
study. Key findings of the
study were:
The NDC can make
travel agents more
competitive and
productive
Agencies said they believed
the NDC might help create
a more even competitive
landscape in relation to airline
websites. This, in turn, might
enable them to serve more
travellers and provide better
service.
Agents said they were
frustrated with the various
channels to book ‘Branded
Fares’ and airline ancillary
products. To serve their
clients, an average travel
agent would toggle between a
GDS, where he/she books the
flight, and an airline website
to book the ancillaries. “A
majority of agents in our study
feel that airline websites
have an advantage over
GDSs in terms of content,
and view the booking
channel fragmentation as
counterproductive,” the report
says.
Agents said they were
hopeful that NDC-enabled
processes would help provide
easier access to all relevant
airline fares and products
and that it would allow them
to search for and book the
content through a single GDS
screen.
“I estimate my front-line
agents lose up to two
hours of productivity going
to airline websites to book
seats and take care of other
client requests, and to enter
these transactions in our
mid-office system. This isn’t
sustainable,” says a ceo of a
US-based travel agency.
Agents expect to be paid
for selling ancillaries
Travel agencies fully expect
to be paid for NDC-enabled
product sales. Survey
respondents said they would
prefer to be paid through
airline-paid commissions.
“With the NDC being
piloted and on the cusp
of commercial launch, it
is imperative that airlines
and agencies discuss and
agree on frameworks for
compensation for NDCenabled
transactions,” the
report said.
The NDC should not reinvent the wheel
Agencies participating in the
study were clear that they did
not want radical overhauls
to their flight searching
and booking processes.
Participants said they were
more likely to use the GDS
native display, also known
as ‘green screen’, to book
airline ancillary products
than other channels. They
found processes in the green
screen mode more efficient
than those available in the
graphical user interface
‘agent desktop’ displays.
54% of agencies said they
used the native display to
book ancillaries ahead of
agency desktop solutions and
proprietary agency solutions.
Agencies are used to
booking outside the GDS
As airlines have evolved what
they sell and how they sell
it, agents have adjusted.
Although GDSs remain the
predominant channel through
which agencies book airline
products, the study found
that, on average, 26% of
agencies booked outside the
GDS. Among the reasons for
this could be the emergence
of low-cost carriers, which
don’t provide all their content
on GDSs. Also, some
agencies indicated that they
used non-GDS channels to
find a lower fare for travellers
.
Agents want
transparency
Travel agents know it may
take time for the NDC to be
fully ‘built out’. Respondents
said they expected NDC
providers to offer visible,
tangible improvements to the
booking of ancillaries, even if
these capabilities were limited
on “day one”.
Agencies’ primary concerns
are the costs to support NDC
implementation, employee
training to use NDC-enabled
processes, added booking
complexity associated with
using NDC-enabled processes,
and ongoing product and
technology support.
