by Robin Amster
Last updated: 4:55 PM ET, Wed December 2, 2015
JetBlue and Travelport's parting of ways may cause travel agents some immediate hassles but beyond that, what does the development say about the relationship between airlines and GDSs and, in fact, the role of GDSs in agents' business?
JetBlue's contract with Travelport expired Nov. 30 after the two failed to reach an agreement on a contract that Travelport said would be competitive for it and its customers. JetBlue, meanwhile, pointed out that the breakdown capped multiple deadline extensions and its own efforts to come up with a satisfactory contract.
What this means, of course, is that agents will no longer find JetBlue's fares in Travelport although those fares will still be available through other channels including other GDSs.
JetBlue is one carrier that has had, if not quite a volatile, than a mixed relationship with GDSs. Eleven years ago it withdrew from Sabre only to return to that GDS in 2006 after realizing it was losing lucrative corporate business.
Travelport-and other GDSs-maintain that GDSs continue to be the primary platform for travel agents to shop and book travel.
Whether that's completely true or not, the carriers are well aware of the importance of GDSs. And Travelport has said it is still optimistic that it can come to terms with JetBlue in the near future.
But agents today have other options to book travel beyond the GDSs, including supplier websites and other websites (OTA's and third party aggregators).
An ASTA Supplier-Travel Agent Marketing Report from 2013 found that GDS air bookings dropped by 15 percent since 2006 while air bookings on airline websites increased by 65 percent and on other sites websites by 124 percent. (Hotel, cruise and tour bookings on GDSs also decreased appreciably.)
And according to a 2012 Phocuswright study, The Role of the GDSs in How Today's Travel Agents Look and Book, while GDSs remain a major source of airline transactions, the evolution of technology for researching and booking travel means they no longer "take center stage in all circumstances."
That technology has resulted in travel suppliers distributing their products through a growing number of booking channels, Travelport itself acknowledged in its own 2011 study.
But the GDSs, unsurprisingly, didn't view this proliferation of choice as simply a positive boost to competition providing agents with more options.
"Today's agencies truly find themselves between a rock and a hard place," Travelport said in its report. "While it is necessary to reach out across the expanse of more options and pricing for customers today, this time-consuming process negatively impacts agent productivity, efficiency and service and limits revenue opportunities."
Despite Travelport's take on today's distribution landscape-and even whether agents agree or disagree with it-there's no turning the clock back on technology or the evolution of the distribution system.
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