WASHINGTON -- The Transportation Department Nov. 12 finally issued
its oft-delayed proposal to revise the rules governing GDSs for the
first time since 1992.
The 286-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, to be published in
the Federal Register as early as Nov. 13, covers a broad range of
GDS issues.
Under the proposed rule, the government would continue to
regulate all of the GDSs, including the ones no longer owned by the
airlines. However, the DOT's proposed rules would not regulate
ticket sales over the Internet.
The proposal also calls for the elimination of two rules the DOT
concluded "may unduly limit the ability of airlines to bargain for
better terms with the systems."
One is the mandatory participation rule. Under that rule, an
airline with ownership interest in a GDS must participate in
competing GDSs at the same level at which it participates in its
own, if the terms are commercially reasonable.
The second is the rule prohibiting discriminatory booking fees,
under which the GDS must charge the same fee to every airline.
While those two rules would be eliminated, the DOT would
maintain the existing requirement that information in the systems
be organized in an objective and unbiased manner.
Other issues of particular interest to agents:
• The DOT is asking for comment on ways to regulate productivity
pricing so that it would not serve as a "de facto minimum use"
provision.
• The proposed rule would restrict the agency-related marketing
data airlines may obtain from GDSs. The DOT cited concerns that
large airlines "may use the data to pressure travel agencies in
such a metropolitan area to stop booking travelers with competing
airlines."
• In a separate but related issue in the same notice, the DOT
proposed a change in policy on agent service fees. Under certain
conditions, agencies would be allowed to exclude the service fee
from the advertised price of an airline ticket initially, as long
as they notify consumers of the fee and the total price when
informing them of any specific itinerary that may be purchased.
The comment period on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will
last for 90 days from its publication in the Federal Register (60
days for initial comments and an additional 30 days for
replies).
Get More!
Look for additional details on this article in the Nov. 18
issue of Travel Weekly.