Sabre Travel Network today announced that United Airlines has joined its Direct Connect Availability program that trades to Sabre users access to virtually all fares in return for a three-year cap on fees carriers pay Sabre to about 13 percent less than its 2003 rates, Sabre said.
According to Southlake, Texas-based Sabre, which also said DCA has been extended to Europe, the program "will play a role in diminishing the present shift of bookings away from GDSs to airline-controlled outlets." United joins a handful of smaller carriers and US Airways in the DCA option
(BTN, Oct. 28, 2002); the major pair also are the leading airlines in Galileo's similar Momentum program.
A United spokesperson said, "We decided this was the right time to act after analyzing the system and seeing that it provided very attractive economics that work for both parties."