JetBlue Airways as of Jan. 1 no longer will make its content available in the Sabre global distribution system. Both parties today confirmed the decision, which would make the low-cost carrier's distribution completely dependent on online channels.
The carrier's decision was based on cost and availability of new distribution technologies, according to director of sales Noreen Courtney-Wilds. "Sabre is the most expensive form of distribution for us," she said, noting that Sabre accounts for about 2 percent of JetBlue sales.
JetBlue's content will be available strictly through a variety of direct channels including its Web site-which handles nearly 80 percent of all bookings and now links to the CompanyBlue corporate portal-and corporate online booking tools such as KDS and Outtask's Cliqbook. The airline also is available through travel agencies that use such content aggregators as AgentWare
(BTN, Oct. 7, 2002) and BookingBuilder
(BTN, Oct. 18). Expedia Corporate Travel also offers JetBlue content.
In general, the carrier has always been more willing to allow screen scrapers to pull content from its site, unlike Southwest Airlines, which has threatened legal action against any entity that does not first receive permission to do so. FareChase, now owned by Yahoo, for example, still has permission to scrape JetBlue's site.
JetBlue in Jan. 2000, began listing in Sabre, Galileo and Worldspan
(BTN, Jan. 24, 2000), a month before launching its first scheduled flight. Since that time, the airline reduced its GDS visibility-exiting Worldspan in Nov. 2001 and Galileo in April 2002-and as of now lists only in Sabre, and only at the lowest level of participation.
"Five years ago, we were not convinced the entire market was ready for just dot-com and online distribution," Courtney-Wilds said, "and all along we maintained our presence in Sabre to keep our toe in the corporate market. Now, we don't need to be widely available in Sabre. Everyone is realizing that there will never be one single channel where you can reach every supplier."
She also noted, however, that the airline's decision "does not necessarily mean the end of the GDS for good for JetBlue."
Meanwhile, Sabre spokesman Dan Toporek said the company and JetBlue are in discussions to determine "how to make sure corporations can have access to content." The possibility of JetBlue's content being made directly available through Sabre's GetThere and Travelocity Business offerings, for example, is on the table though Courtney-Wilds said there are no immediate plans for such connections.
Toporek also noted that GetThere's WebConnect solution can help clients gain access to content not available through the Sabre GDS
(BTN, March 10, 2003). Furthermore, GetThere has a relationship with AgentWare, which in turn provides JetBlue content. Nevertheless, Toporek said, "Applying what feels like a leisure decision to the corporate marketplace is a risky decision."
Indeed, some corporate clients likely will be unhappy with the JetBlue strategy. "Their new portal is fine, but it still is a portal," said Robin Buzzeo, corporate travel manager at Taro Pharmaceuticals, referring to CompanyBlue. "You still have to go outside the GDS and that costs time and efficiency. For corporations, this will make things more difficult."
Courtney-Wilds acknowledged that JetBlue expects some pushback from corporate clients but said its new "100 percent consumer-direct" philosophy will allow the carrier "to determine the best solutions for corporations."
Meanwhile, the decision may dent efforts by GDS companies to attract low-cost carriers like JetBlue to their distribution systems, even as deregulation has allowed those companies to tailor pricing and programs to individual suppliers. Just yesterday, Sabre chairman and CEO Sam Gilliland said, "Increasingly, we are hearing from low-cost carriers that they highly value" Sabre's wide distribution portfolio.
Sabre this week secured content from Independence Air, which launched this summer without using any GDS distribution. The Washington Dulles-based low-fare carrier also recently signed agreements with Cendant's Galileo and Worldspan.