The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is asking for feedback from members on American Airlines decision make changes to its fare distribution.
The airline announced that it would go ahead with its April implementation of the New Distribution Capability (NDC).
ASTA called on American to delay implementation until the end of 2023, noting that travel advisors and travel distribution services were not prepared to switch to NDC by an April date, cutting out many travelers from certain fare inventory.
There was no response to ASTA's call for a delay and therefore the implementation is set to take place today. In light of the situation, the association is asking for feedback from members and members' clients.
"In the course of the coming days and weeks, when you experience the negative effects of how American’s abrupt transition is impacting consumers (primarily) and your businesses (secondarily), please send them to the following email address, created specifically for this purpose: [email protected]. ASTA’s Mark Meader, senior vice president industry affairs, and Peter Lobasso, senior vice president and general counsel, will monitor it routinely over the coming days for detail to help make our case stronger.
In addition, ASTA also sent letters last week to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The letters explained the "widespread disruption and consumer harm that will occur as a result of AA’s forced early NDC implementation, facilitated by its near-monopoly in many important, high traffic markets." ASTA plans to share these letters with members of the House and Senate who serve on transportation committees. ASTa also will meet with appropriate staff at DOT and DOJ to discuss this urgent issue.
In its request sent to travel advisors, ASTA is requesting advisors send in their comments in "fact-based, plain English" and to focus on "clients more than agencies themselves." One example could be information on whether advisors are seeing a price disparity in NDC channels versus non-NDC channels. The association noted that "learly defined consumer impact will hold the greatest weight with the government officials referenced above."
The issue of NDC implementation could weigh heavily on a travel industry that is not yet ready to transition to this new technology.
Previously, in a statement released by ASTA calling on American Airlines to delay NDC implementation, ASTA noted: “Most of the key players, including TMCs, global distribution systems (GDSs) and third-party booking technology partners such as Concur have stated that they will not be fully prepared to facilitate NDC implementation by April. Without significant and key front-, mid-, and back-office travel fulfillment systems ready and able to fully process NDC transactions, significant disruptions to shopping and booking, including ticketing, refunds and re-ticketing are inevitable. Regardless of third-party readiness, the fragile public trust already impacted by recent events within the airline sector is at stake," said ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby.
Kerby continued, noting that in addition to technology issues, processes need to be developed to ensure success.
“Beyond the unproven technology piece of the puzzle, processes that do not currently exist for servicing NDC bookings will need to be developed, tested, and implemented," Kerby added. "The airlines have been working on NDC for over a decade, but this sudden bullying of valuable distribution partners into breakneck-speed implementation won’t serve our shared customers. During the pandemic, the airlines pled for solidarity, and received $54 billion in public grants to maintain operations - far more than travel agencies received. Airlines are also sitting on millions in undistributed refunds that the Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated they return to customers. Given its broad consumer protection mandate, DOT may want to investigate the consequences of AA’s actions, should it continue down its intended path."
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