Northwest Joins Distribution Surcharge Charge

Northwest Airlines late last week said on Sept. 1 it would begin charging $3.50 per segment on bookings that do not come through preferred distribution channels. In doing so, Northwest follows policies similar to those recently announced by American, United and Continental airlines.

Northwest has secured distribution terms with Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan, G2 SwitchWorks and Farelogix and those companies' products are among the preferred systems that yield immunity from fees. However, with the recent flurry of "opt-in" programs introduced by global distribution systems, only certain products offered by Galileo, Worldspan and Sabre are applicable. Those are Sabre's Efficient Access Solution Product, Galileo's Content Continuity Product and Worldspan's Super Access Product.

"The Preferred Distribution Products Policy applies to all bookings originated by travel agencies, including Corporate Travel Departments and corporate customers that own their GDS contracts, located within the 50 United States, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, with respect to bookings made in or on behalf of such agencies," Northwest said in a statement.