Over the next two weeks, beginning Nov. 3,
Sabre said it will remove all of the sanctions it imposed against
Air Canada for pulling its Tango fares from the GDS.
Sabre spokeswoman
Kathryn Hayden said the GDS's actions "reflect the progress we have
made in our discussions with Air Canada to provide for the
availability of the Air Canada content in our system."
"We look forward to
providing the full availability of the fares in a way that meets
the needs of the travel agency community, as well as Air Canada and
travelers," she added.
Hayden, however,
said she could not immediately provide details on how that will
happen.
Air Canada also saw
the action as a positive step.
"We see this as a
sign of their commitment to meet our needs," Air Canada spokesman
John Reber said.
Air Canada withdrew
its Tango fares, the lowest the airline offers, from all GDSs in
May after declaring the GDSs were unable or unwilling to display
and sell the fares in the way the airline wanted, with options for
customers to pay extra for a seat assignment and get a reduced fare
for agreeing not to check any baggage.
Sabre retaliated by
removing Air Canada premium inventory classes C, J and Y from its
displays. It also biased flight displays against Air Canada,
ensuring other airline's inventory would appear higher on agents'
screens when the prices were equal.
Unbundling the fares
Sabre's move came
just one week after Air Canada revised its fare structure in a way
that again left the GDSs with Air Canada inventory that offers GDS
users fewer options and fares than the airline is offering on its
consumer and agency Web sites.
The changes
narrowed the number of fare categories from five to four: Tango,
Tango Plus, Latitudes and Executive Class. And the option to save
money by agreeing not to check any baggage now is also available
for Tango Plus and Latitude fares.
Also, customers
booking Tango fares can save money by choosing not to earn frequent
flyer miles for the flight or by agreeing to the condition that
they cannot make itinerary changes or cancellations.
For add-ons,
customers booking Latitude fares can pay extra for access to the
airline's airport lounges, and customers booking Tango or Tango
Plus fares can pay $4 for a voucher to buy food onboard that would
cost them $7 if paid for in flight.
None of those
options is available on the GDSs, at least not for now.
Also, under the
revised structure, Latitude fares offered on the airline's Web
sites will be adjusted constantly, based on the best available
Tango Plus fare available at the time of the request. Air Canada
said GDS technology doesn't allow for that much flexibility, with
fare changes instead typically loaded by the airline once or twice
a day, so GDS users will not get the same range of Latitude
fares.
But even before
Sabre decided to lift the sanctions, Marc Rosenberg, Air Canada's
vice president for sales and product distribution, said the
airline's relationship with the GDSs had improved, with ongoing
negotiations that could someday get Tango fares back into those
systems.
Through the last
several months, he said, the GDSs have changed their
attitude.
"The focus is on
how they can deliver Air Canada merchandising or selling of
attributes," he said. "It's more a conversation of how can they and
what do they need to do to keep up with us."
To
contact reporter Andrew Compart, send e-mail to [email protected].