UA Offers Interlining Tool

<B>UA Offers Interlining Tool</B>

By David Jonas

United Airlines last week began offering new software that enables airlines to link computer reservation systems for interlined electronic tickets. The product, E-Ticket II Interline, is another step toward industrywide interchangeability and flexibility of e-tickets.

United debuted the new product this spring, when it began interlining e-tickets with Star Alliance partner Air Canada. Now, other airlines, even direct competitors, can take advantage of United's newest initiative, which makes e-ticketing possible for multi-carrier itineraries and facilitates reaccommodation in the event of flight disruptions.

The carrier pioneered e-ticketing in the mid-90s, at least among large hub carriers, and licensed its first generation e-ticket product to 14 carriers around the world, including British Airways, Qantas, Varig and even rival American Airlines. E-ticketing since has become the standard, with many domestic carriers, including United, now reporting usage above 60 percent. Interlining is the last hurdle.

United said E-Ticket II Interline need not be deployed exclusively for bilateral links with United; it can be used to create a bridge between any two carriers.

Aside from Air Canada, United has not yet established working interline agreements with any other carriers, though discussions are underway. A United spokesperson said the next bilateral links will not necessarily be with alliance partners but with high-volume carriers that may share and exchange a large number of passengers. Indeed, an interlined agreement between United and American has been discussed for a few years, but apparently has not yet been a top priority for either. For its part, American had an e-ticket interline agreement with Canadian Airlines before that carrier was folded in with Air Canada.

American said it now is working on the technology with all the major carriers. "Whether we use their technology or not, United is part of the picture and a definite priority," said an AA spokesperson. "We have evaluated every other opportunity out there, and because of our own technology, we may use a mix of in-house systems and those provided by a third party."

Continental and Northwest, meanwhile, officially launched their e-ticket interline agreement. Currently, interlined e-tickets only are available through the carrier's reservation centers, city ticket offices and Northwest's Web site (www.nwa.com). The functionality will be expanded to travel agents and Continental's Web site in the next few months. Continental also has an interline agreement in place with America West.

A few industrywide e-ticket interline initiatives still are in development, including IBM's solution, which is part of the ConnectEdge suite of airline services and products (BTN, June 26).

IBM has discussed the multilateral interline product with various airlines and alliances but has yet to announce a firm timetable.

The IBM project is a spinoff of an earlier initiative with the International Air Transportation Association, which shelved the idea when the airline alliances opted to develop internal systems. IATA, however, is working on another, more modest e-ticketing product. "It is sort of an ET Lite idea that facilitates communication about e-tickets between participating airlines," said Mike Muller, IATA's assistant director of passenger services. "It is much simpler and more cost-effective and lets them determine their own processes."

The Open Travel Alliance also is continuing to work on an XML-based e-ticket interline solution (BTN, June 26).