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BA: ‘GDS fees are outrageous’
British Airways director of sales worldwide, Dale Moss (left) told TravelMole: “The fees that GDSs charge are outrageous…… If I had a suitable alternative, I would switch.”
Speaking to a group of journalists in Paris this week, Mr Moss said: “GDS is the best distribution system we have, but when the price is so outrageous, the value goes down.”
At the same meeting, British Airways head of UK and Ireland sales, Tiffany Hall (right) told TravelMole that the search for a viable alternative distribution system was already more advanced in the US. She said that the EU had begun to look into the issue, but it would take some time.
Ms Hall added that BA wouldn’t be waiting for the EU decision, and was already in talks with key agents over GDS alternatives.
Mr Moss said: “The EU has held a position on this issue that is frighteningly 19th Century. If legislation came, the GDS fees would be negotiable. But GDSs are raising their fees knowing that down the road they can start negotiations at a higher price. They will
keep going up for as long as they can get away with it.”
Mr Moss said a drop in GDS charges of ten or 15 percent was not enough.
Days after BA bosses expressed their dis-satisfaction with GDS charges, Amadeus announced an increase of up to three percent on its charges for 2003. It said the price increase was well below forecasts for other price rises within the industry.
It is not just distribution costs that are being scrutinised at BA, Ms Hall said the company had rationalised considerably under its streamlining initiative, Future Size and Shape. She said: “Many things used to be taken for granted but now everything is under the microscope”.
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