Carriers Developing GDS Bypass For Travel Agencies

<B>Carriers Developing GDS Bypass For Travel Agencies</B>

By David Jonas

Following last month's launch of corporate booking beta tests on its consumer Web site (<I>BTN</I>, Feb. 21), Delta Air Lines last week unveiled a new online agency service center that enables travel management companies to access Delta information. Though the new features are purely informational at this point, direct bookings and other agency functions are on the horizon.

Meanwhile, other airlines, such as Continental and Northwest, are working on more functional areas of their Web sites for agency clients.

For now, Delta's site, www.delta-air.com/travel-agency, provides highly customizable Delta information for the agency community, ranging from commission information, policy changes and meetings and group information, to destination information, baggage specifications and relevant news bulletins.

"We are providing content to the travel agency community in a different environment than the CRS, which offers text only and is difficult to navigate," said Steve Scheper, Delta general manager of agency and corporate program development. "The Internet is a much more dynamic environment that brings about greater efficiencies."

Though the service center is available to all travel agencies worldwide, Delta sent e-mails to 6,000 of its agency accounts, informing them of the new services and prompting them to enroll online via their ARC/IATA number.

Several agency clients were involved in beta testing the site, including VTS Travel Direct, the tenth largest corporate agency in the country. "As a corporate agency, most of our contact with clients is over the phone. Our general thought is to have agents less dependent on that," said Lynn Natalizio, client services manager at the Mahwah, N.J.-based agency. "It's a huge benefit for us and our clients to access the information immediately and provide a visual, printable page if need be." Natalizio has been particularly impressed with the ease of navigation and the search engine.

Several enhancements are expected to roll out later this year, including a direct booking engine that "will give the agency community access to our special Web fares, along with published fares," Scheper said. "Our mission is to manage all channels."

Delta still needs to decide on commission policy for direct agency bookings. Though Scheper said the carrier now is formulating its strategy, he would not comment on possible commission levels or even if commission payments for such bookings are definite.

However, as Delta slashes costs by pushing more transactions to the Web, clients in certain circumstances could expect to share in the savings. "We envision an environment where there would be incentive programs in place for agencies booking online," Scheper said. "For specific O&D or in particular markets, it could be quite advantageous."

Data reporting tools will be added to the site to complement the direct booking, as well as account-specific information and management. Once loaded in, agencies will be able to log on and review negotiated fares, performance and other specific contract elements. Those reporting tools, meanwhile, may be integrated to account for all agency activity with Delta to conveniently create aggregate data sets.

Meanwhile, a debit memo processing function is under development whereby an agency can review specific debit memos and either accept or contest each one electronically. The feature would be a huge step forward for a process which, up to this point, has remained all paper-based.

On the meetings side, information on group travel already is included as part of the online agency service center, though "a parallel program" for bookings is being developed to run alongside the corporate booking functionality. That system, which will include an electronic RFP form, also will surface later this year.

Delta indicated that security remains a prime concern and the timetable for future functionality will hinge on how quickly it can attain a sufficient level.

Continental, meanwhile, has a trio of beta tests underway, each targeting GDS-bypass channels for niche travel agency clients. One trial involves a large agency linked to Continental through a seamless back-end connection enabling direct bookings in the carrier's reservations system. XML portals will facilitate such connections and eliminate the cost of running data lines. The carrier expects that test to continue for six more months.

At the same time, nine agencies in Florida are testing a direct solution for small to midsize clients. "It gives these brick-and-mortar agencies an opportunity to book with us direct through the Internet and, in turn, we share the distribution savings," said Jim Young, Continental's managing director of distribution planning. "It would be an incentive above and beyond any commission or override payments they normally receive." The beta test was launched in December and likely will run for two more months before Continental offers the program to a broader client base.

Meanwhile, Continental's third Internet development for agents is an extranet-based system linked through Continental's main consumer site. The goal is to make available all the functionality now offered in the GDS, including DRS messaging, performance updates, debit memos, waivers and favors.

"We don't see the CRS as being a panacea. There is tons of demand for these new Internet programs and the waiting list is quite long," Young said. However, he acknowledged that removing the GDS from the equation is not the best course of action for many clients. "Each agency needs to think about what its business mix is," he said. "If a lot of volume goes through one dominant carrier, they should think about a closer relationship."

Northwest also is progressing on its agency-dedicated Internet site. Like Delta and Continental, direct booking functionality is in the works through an extranet connection that will link customers to the carrier's reservation system. Currently, Northwest's agent clientele can find information on audits, travel tips, destination guides, online waiver request forms and other Northwest and KLM information.

Meanwhile, National Airlines also debuted a new travel agents section on its Web site. By inputting its ARC number, an agency can find information on the airline's commission structure, products, services and agent policies. Future enhancements call for a booking engine and exclusive Web specials for travel agents.