Farelogix has pulled together several of its key products to create the Airline Commerce Gateway, a single platform designed to enable airlines to deliver dynamic content to all distribution channels, from websites to kiosks to GDSs.
“This is not an either/or,” CEO Jim Davidson said. “This doesn’t replace the GDS. The technology exists to accommodate all the distribution channels.”
Davidson said the combination of three interactive engines, covering pricing, merchandising and distribution business rules, put the creation of offers into airlines’ control.
An XML-based direct connection links the airline host system with the three engines, which in turn are linked to various distribution channels, both direct and indirect, via Farelogix’ FLX API.
“We’re not talking about being a GNE,” Davidson said, referring to the so-called GDS New Entrants that caught a lot of attention in the 2006 round of airline-GDS negotiations. “And we’re not talking about just doing direct connects. We are capable of responding to any outlet.”
One of those channels could be the GDSs, he said, but since the events leading up to the ongoing legal battles between airlines and GDSs, “we no longer have access to a GDS.”
Davidson said the system will enable to depict airline merchandising efforts, such as flat beds, upgraded meals and lounge access, in both still shots and videos.
Traditional travel agency screens reduce a seat that converts to a flat bed to a symbol, he said. “How does a travel agency get value out of selling an ‘x’?” he asked.
The GDS companies’ newer, upgraded agency desktops do offer visual enhancements, but airlines complain that most agents prefer to work in the “green screen” environment.
Davidson said that once IATA settles on standards for its New Distribution Capability, the Gateway will become NDC-compliant.
That should not take long. There are indications that IATA has selected the Open AXIS schema, now under ATPCO’s control, as the NDC standard. That schema was donated by Farelogix.
atwonline.com
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