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Pummeled by charges that its efforts to design the New Distribution Capability (NDC) standards have been unilateral, IATA in November created a steering group that, beginning last month, gave nonairline stakeholders a say in setting the agendas for some meetings about its development.
Arriving at a standard is essential in order for all parts of the airline distribution channel to exchange data and communicate efficiently. But within that channel, a lot of players brushed off the steering group concept as offering too little input, too late in the game.
Two GDSs, Sabre and Travelport, said the steering group in no way offered the level of input they are seeking, since it only allows nonairline stakeholders input on setting meeting agendas and leaves them with no decision-making power -- or even real input -- in the development of NDC.
Amadeus has been more conciliatory than other GDSs in public statements about NDC, but it said that travel agencies have been underrepresented in IATA workshops on the proposed standard.
IATA, as a representative of the airlines, is under no legal obligation to seek input from any nonairline persons or groups. But many groups that see themselves as stakeholders insist that for NDC to be embraced widely throughout the distribution channel, it has to meet the needs of GDSs, travel sellers, technology companies and other key players in the air distribution channel.
And to a limited extent, IATA concedes that point.
"For [NDC] to work, it has to have value for all stakeholders," said Eric Leopold, director of passenger services for IATA. Moreover, he said that in forming the steering group last November, "IATA acknowledged that people want to be more involved."
What IATA and NDC opponents cannot agree on is what constitutes "involved."
The six-member steering group coordinates the work of the task forces that make up the Distribution Data Exchange Working Group (DDXWG). There are 30 entities: 10 airlines, five agencies and 15 technology companies in the DDXWG. Membership is not limited to that number and can fluctuate. There are six task forces and two virtual task forces; the latter work on an as-needed basis.
The six members of the steering group were selected by DDXWG members, who chose three airlines, JR Technologies, a technology company; a U.K. travel management company and the Airline Tariff Publishing Co. (ATPCo).
The steering group coordinates the work of the task forces.
Setting the meeting agendas for this bureaucratic maze is no small task.
George Khairallah, president of JR Technologies and a member of the steering group, said the DDXWG oversees a variety of task forces that were set up to examine extensible markup language (XML) rules, known as schema, for different parts of the airline sales channel -- for example, offers presented when consumers are looking for or booking an airline ticket, interline agreements, issuing tickets, selling ancillary products and services, etc.
The steering group studies the findings of each task force, searching for gaps and overlaps that require further discussion. It resolves inconsistencies between the task forces. It passes information on to the Passenger Distribution Group (PDG), which created the DDXWG. The steering group also ensures that the DDXWWG delivers business requirements according to the scope set by the PDG. This means that the DDXWG has tasks and assignments related to NDC and the PDG sets the scope of those assignments.
And while the GDSs might not be happy with the level of their involvement, Khairallah said they are nonetheless participating in meetings and that business requirements are being built with their participation.
"To construct the standard, we need industry participation," Khairallah said.
But Fergal Kelly, vice president of content for Travelport, said that if IATA is working on a standard for an industry that distributes more than half its product through GDSs and other aggregators, it needs "collaborative input and advice from that key distribution channel."
Kelly said that the NDC governance is similar to that of Open Axis, an airline group that started working on XML standards in 2010 and whose standards NDC has adopted, in that membership in both bodies is limited to airlines.
That kind of insulation can't work, Kelly insisted, because establishing an industry standard requires taking into account "how goods and services move end to end through the industry."
"Industry standards should set out to create a greater level of efficiency at all points in the supply chain," Kelly said.
He said that Travelport did not seek a seat on the steering group because the GDS could not tell if the steering group was governing the standard or just the DDXWG agenda.
He pointed out that Travelport has been working with XML for years and is already using XML to work with several carriers, both low-cost and traditional airlines. He said the GDS is willing and able to work with airlines using XML schema, be it NDC or some other XML schema.
"Our goal is to help airlines to distribute and retail their product in the way they think makes most sense for them, and Travelport is committed to being collaborative," he said.
Paul Ruden, ASTA's senior vice president for legal and industry affairs, said agents, too, should have a say in the development of NDC because it will affect their customers.
"They know their customers' wants and needs and should be able to shape the discussion," he said.
Amadeus, too, asserted that travel agency input is crucial.
"We believe, and have said to IATA, that it is essential to include travel agencies and travel buyers and their representative bodies in the development of any industry standards," said an Amadeus spokeswoman.
Darin Jones, manager of marketing services for ATPCo, said his group was pleased that IATA "seems to be trying to take feedback from various constituencies." However, he said he was unclear about the structure of the group.
"Like any normal process, what the plan is and what the reality is often wind up being two different things," he said.
Ruden observed that technological change involves money and asked, "What are the implementation costs? How are they going to be borne? Will airlines make that decision and say, 'If you want to sell air travel, you bear the cost?'"
Leopold responded that change always comes at a cost.
"The reason you bear the cost is because you think the benefits will offset the cost," he said. "But the only people who can assess the benefits are the airlines themselves, and they have different business models."
Other nonairline stakeholders complained that they attend NDC meetings but have no input.
At the Center for Aviation conference held last month in Dublin, Jeremy Wertheimer, vice president of engineering at Google, said that members of his staff attend IATA meetings but have nothing to do because all decisions have already been made by the time they get there.
Similarly, Nancy St. Pierre, a spokeswoman for Sabre, said that Sabre employees also attend NDC meetings, and the GDS has given IATA feedback on such topics as NDC's impact on fare transparency, personal privacy, ticketing and settlement processes and system performance, among other topics.
"But our input has been either ignored, discarded or flatly shut down by IATA representatives" St. Pierre said. "From the meetings we've attended, it is clear there is a predetermined path for NDC which few people know about, and when anything is suggested or raised by Sabre or others that veers from that predetermined path, the discussions are strongly discouraged and the questions [that are] raised [are] ignored."
Nevertheless, St. Pierre said that Sabre "fully supports the development and implementation of technology standards that drive value and efficiency to meet the needs of both travel suppliers and buyers as they change over time" and that it "also supports the vision of airlines providing more personalized offers for travelers."
She said the key thing is that the industry "work together to turn this into a reality that meets the needs of all stakeholders, especially the corporations and individual travelers who underwrite the entire cost of the transportation system."
Leopold appeared baffled by this stance, recalling that he had sat with Wertheimer on a same panel at which Wertheimer said Google felt ignored in the process. After the panel, Leopold said he asked Wertheimer for specifics.
"I said, 'I'm sorry, the reason we open these groups is because we want to know the best standard possible,'" Leopold said, adding that he had asked GDSs the same thing.
Leopold said that Wertheimer could not provide specifics because he does not attend the meetings personally.
Travel Weekly followed up with Google, but a spokeswoman said the company would have no comment on the matter.
Follow Kate Rice on Twitter @krtravelweekly.