Orbitz Connects Directly With AA, Names Other Carriers
Orbitz today said it finished developing and is rolling out its supplier link direct booking connection with American Airlines' internal reservations system, enabling Orbitz to book the carrier without using a global distribution system. AA now can take Orbitz bookings in its Sabre-hosted res system without paying segment fees to Worldspan, Orbitz's GDS provider. Instead of paying Worldspan about $8 per ticket--net of an Orbitz rebate--AA now pays Chicago-based Orbitz $4, including any changes or reissues.
"This replaces all functions GDSs provide for agencies, including pricing, availability and customer service access," said Leon Chism, Orbitz chief Internet architect. "We reconfigured many of our systems, including accounting and customer service. We've been testing for four months and began booking tickets last week. We're in the midst of a 30-day ramp-up period, at the end of which we'll be selling 100 percent of eligible AA tickets through the supplier link."
Orbitz officials were unable to comment on whether AA or other airlines would share with corporate clients the savings they derive from such bookings, an incentive other direct connection visionaries have seen as buyers' reason to book directly. An AA rep was unable immediately to respond to the same question.
As for other distributors that have or are developing direct connections--including Sabre's GetThere, Amadeus' E-Travel and Navitaire--AA said its work with them has been limited. "We do have a direct link with one corporate booking tool and we anticipate adding more over time," said the AA spokesperson. He would not reveal which tool that is, but said it is not the tool offered by Sabre's GetThere unit.
Chism said Orbitz developed its own version of a GDS passenger name record, which it calls the Orbitz Travel Plan, that resides on Orbitz's own servers and takes in data from both the supplier-linked airline and the GDS PNR. This enables Orbitz fulfillment agents to manipulate the record after the reservation is made, particularly for changes and reissues. A car rental booking made in Worldspan, for example, would be copied in the Orbitz OTP so it is married with supplier-link reservations. Chism said some of the supplier link development occurred as Orbitz was putting together the aa.com booking engine.
American is the first of about a dozen carriers Orbitz said will develop the technology, which is based on an application programming interface that is unique for each airline reservations system. The res system for AA is hosted by Sabre, as are those of Alaska, US Airways, Hawaiian and Midwest Express--all carriers Orbitz said would take advantage of the link. Other airlines mentioned include Worldspan-hosted Delta; United, which is on Galileo's Apollo; and America West, which uses EDS' Shares system.
Orbitz said it expects US Airways to join the program later this year, as well as two other carriers that it did not name. Sources said those are Continental, which is hosted by EDS, and Northwest, whose res system is run by Worldspan.
Asked for an update on its new Orbitz For Business product (BTN, July 29), an Orbitz official said a further announcement would come in a few weeks.