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Airlines pushing agents to by-pass GDS
Airlines in an effort to save money are beginning attempts to persuade travel agents to shift to Web-based services from their mainframes systems, reports The New York Times.
“United Airlines, which is a unit of the UAL Corporation, met with its top travel agents in Chicago to introduce them to three Internet-based reservation systems from ITA Software, G2 SwitchWorks and Farelogix that rely on Web connections and desktop computer technology to search and book seats,” said the newspaper.
These systems cost airlines about $1 for every ticket booked, compared with more than $10 for current booking systems.
Analysts and industry executives said all the major airlines were in similar discussions with agents, looking to book fares more cheaply, according to the report.
The airline’s action signals they are willing to use the Web-based systems to extract savings just as passengers use online reservation systems to circumvent travel agents.
“This is the first shot of a major war,” said Norman L. Rose, president of TravelTech Consulting, which is based in Belmont, Calif. “For all these airlines, one of the objectives for the year is to move to a low-cost distribution environment.”
Industry executives were quoted as saying the move will add more automation but that the systems are not sophisticated enough to abandon the existing systems, though that could change in the future.
Report by David Wilkening
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