IATA's New Distribution Capability — NDC — has now dominated industry discussion, and technology companies and intermediaries' strategies, for more than half a dozen years.
There has never been an argument about the benefits of giving corporate managers and travellers the breadth of content choice and booking facility which is taken for granted in leisure travel.
Business travellers want more from the airline content they access than the schedule, changes and fare which is available on traditional GDS screens. They want information about, and ability to book, all the extras that airlines' websites can offer from seat selection to meal choices. Airlines want them to have access to boost their sales. Travel managers want this so that they can collect the spend data from one source and have an accurate insight into the real cost of an airline fare.
But everyone getting an experience closer to what they want is not the same as everyone getting what they want.
Times have changed from when corporates and TMCs all chanted their demands for "full content" in unison.
In partnership with Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport, Qantas is launching the "Qantas Channel" as part of its digital booking strategy. As well as the enhanced content and wider range of fares which come with NDC, the content will be more personalised including special, targeted offers. TMCs will also have access to data which they can leverage to create personalised offers for their customers.
TMCs can obtain access to the Qantas Channel by signing an agreement with the carrier. Those who do not sign up for the channel will still be able to make Qantas bookings through their GDS but will have to pay an Aus$12.50 (US$8.75) fee per booking and will not be able to use all the features of the new channel when it is launched on 1 August.
Imposing a booking fee and content restrictions for those who do not sign up suggests that those who do are agreeing to commit either cash or volumes in expectation that any ensuing benefit will outweigh the cost.
The Qantas channel and its accompanying inevitable price opacity, which is part and parcel of most commercial arrangements, raises questions about who ultimately pays.
Carriers traditionally pay the GDS for it to distribute its content so one can only assume that the TMCs' contribution to the carrier will defray some of that distribution cost. However, as we all know, GDSs pay TMCs "inducements" on the basis of the volume of bookings put through them. The fees that suppliers pay to be on a GDS are based on the agent booking volumes on that GDS.
In other words, it's a money merry-go-round and without access to the actual numbers, we do not know who amongst agent, supplier and GDS will be winning or losing from the hugely attractive Qantas channel.
But we do suspect that the corporate customer may be paying for at least some of the enhanced benefits that NDC and the Qantas channel has committed to deliver.