The Institute of Travel Management (ITM) has created a new taskforce of buyers to help tackle the “major headache” of changes to airfare distribution, including the impact of NDC (New Distribution Capability).
The UK-based buyers’ organisation said that its members’ concerns over these changes had led to the creation of the Airfare Distribution Taskforce, which is made up of seven buyers from different sectors.
Scott Davies, CEO of the ITM, said: “NDC, airline distribution and modern retailing are causing our buyer members a major headache with some describing it as a ‘mess’.
“Some have expressed concern that they will face a deluge of complaints from travellers about fares being visible but not bookable in their OBT (online booking tool). Other buyers expect a potential increase in leakage, while others foresee challenges with managing manual process for exceptions to policy.”
Davies added that complexity and the “noise” created by these distribution changes within the industry had become “overwhelming for many of our buyer members”. Buyers have already expressed concerns that travel management companies (TMCs) and OBTs will not be ready to provide all of American Airlines' content from this month.
The taskforce will be aiming to “bring the collective voice” of travel managers to suppliers, as well as raising awareness of the “gaps” that need to be addressed to support managed corporate travel programmes.
The group’s initial work will include publishing a guide to help buyers understand the “changing landscape” of airline distribution. It will also produce a summary of “non-negotiable aspects” of a managed programme and why “not having all the key players in the ecosystem ‘ready’ for NDC is a major challenge”.
Davies explained: “The corporate customer’s requirements have been distinctly missing from industry discussions to now.
“The taskforce aims to bring the discussion back to what is important within a given travel manager’s programme, determine what action they need to take and help buyers find workable solutions.”
The specific objectives of the ITM taskforce will include defining the customer, intricacies and value of the managed programme and what buyers need from airlines.
It will also seek to determine the principles of a “minimum viable product” for airfare distribution to corporates and provide a “unified voice to articulate that position to airlines”.