Navigant International subsidiary Aqua Software Products will have to wait for the U.S. Department of Transportation's final ruling on its GDS regulations, expected sometime this year following a June 9 deadline for industry commentary, before it can consider booking functionality in its AquaQuest tool that connects agencies with Orbitz. Aqua and Navigant officials had hoped to install booking capability by the end of this quarter, according to a recent survey by
Business Travel News.
Aqua officials could not be reached today to comment on whether the delay would compromise its position as the exclusive provider of Orbitz content to agencies
(BTN, May 16, 2002).
"Today, the product we offer through Aqua does not offer the travel agent any means of placing a booking through any Orbitz system," said Orbitz general counsel Gary Doernhoeffer last week in Washington at DOT's hearing on GDS regulations. "It is nothing other than a fare check mechanism. So while they run a search in whatever GDS they operate, next to that a window is created by the Aqua software and a fare check mechanism using Orbitz and its database is running as well."
Asked whether there is a plan to allow for bookings, he said, "We would take that next step, so-called phase two in our plan, only in the event that the regulations that we're talking about here today are changed in such a way that we could enter it without the barrier that the mandatory participation rule puts up. So there is the plan, but only depending on the outcome of this proceeding."
DOT has proposed to toss the mandatory participation rule, which requires each airline with an ownership position of 5 percent or higher in one global distribution system to participate at equal levels in all systems. One issue in the debate over the GDS regulations is whether its airline ownership and potential as a supplier to travel agencies means Orbitz should be defined as a GDS company.
While Navigant already is using AquaQuest, Aqua has said Carlson Wagonlit Travel, its other mega client, is considering the product. Boston-area Garber's Travel Service, the nation's 14th largest corporate travel agency according to
BTN's 2003 ranking, is the largest known user outside of Navigant itself. A Garber official said the tool is used to increase agent productivity by reducing the time spent on searching the Web, including the consumer Orbitz site.