What to do with IATA's Conference Resolution 787? IATA wants the Department of Transportation (DOT) to green-light it so the airlines can develop XML messaging standards that could pave the way for its proposed New Distribution Capability (NDC). Many critics want the DOT to put a stop to this with a red light. We believe what's in order is flashing amber: Let's slow down and proceed with caution.
Critics of the IATA resolution have warned the DOT that unless it slams on the brakes, consumers would be visited by a parade of horrors, including a loss of fare transparency, the end of comparison shopping, the end of anonymous price quotes, invasions of privacy and other evils. Some of these claims strike us as exaggerated, and some of them seem to border on willful distortion.
Some people and organizations are naturally suspicious of airlines on general principle, and maybe they have good reason, but some commenters who have posted their views in the DOT docket have such a twisted idea of Resolution 787 that we can't help but wonder what they've been reading.
On the subject of authentication, for example, IATA has taken pains to describe the process as a voluntary alternative for both the airline and for the consumer. In other words, if the airline wants to make targeted offers of bundled services to agency clients based on a buyer's profile or buying history, and if the customer and agent willingly provide the information, then it could happen.
Yet the idea persists that the airlines envision a regime whereby no prospective passenger could get a basic fare quote on the Internet without forking over their name, address, nationality, marital status and other details.
Even worse is the imagined scenario whereby airlines, working through the agency channel, would change the basic fare quote based on the identity of the customer.
We agree these would be unwelcome developments, but they are also ridiculous and unsavory ways to do business that couldn't survive in the marketplace.
Perhaps that is why IATA has repeatedly claimed that this is not its intent, and why it told the DOT, in what appears to be plain English, that "the new data specification will continue to support anonymous fare quotes."
It might be that IATA has contributed to this unrest and confusion by doing a poor job of communicating some of its past actions and future intentions to the industry and to the public. One thing IATA could use is a nudge from the DOT to improve its industry outreach skills.
But as a general proposition, we think the distribution marketplace needs to explore new ideas, even if they originate with airlines, and we think the government ought to be allowing new ideas to get a fair test rather than slamming the brakes on them.
As IATA itself has noted, this is the beginning of the process, not the end: "IATA is not seeking an endorsement of the stated business requirements or marketplace aspirations of NDC and recognizes that any additional conference agreements on standardization of distribution practices would need to be filed with DOT before becoming effective."
Given the DOT's abiding interest in this topic, nobody can realistically expect it to nod its assent and walk away.
Some travel agents have recognized that NDC has the potential to significantly empower travel agents. We do not believe that to be an exaggeration. It is, rather, a possibility that merits an amber light.