eeding pleas from travel agencies, the
DOT moved last week to limit the booking data that it allows
airlines to buy from GDS vendors.
Currently, airlines participating in a system can buy data
showing how many bookings are made by each travel agency using that
system on each airline in individual markets, along with the fare
basis used for each booking and the flight booked by each
passenger.
The airlines thus have access to each agency's booking activity
for every carrier participating in the system. The carriers then
use that data to determine levels of agency compensation, now
confined to override commissions.
Travel agencies have long complained that access to this
information has given individual airlines undue power to threaten
agencies that if they don't book higher shares, they will lose
compensation. In its notice of proposed rulemaking on GDS
regulations last week, the DOT agreed that airlines shouldn't have
so much data because such access results in decreased
competition.
"The availability of the detailed data now being sold appears to
undermine airline competition, at least in domestic markets," the
DOT said. "We recognize that airlines can and often do use the data
for legitimate purposes and that markets usually operate better
when firms have more information.
"Nonetheless, the record indicates that the availability of the
data has adversely affected airline competition and interfered with
the travel agencies' ability to book the services that best meet
their customers' needs."
The DOT said it was convinced the airlines "use the data to
coerce travel agencies into reducing or ending their bookings on
competing airlines."
"The data tapes tell the dominant airline which travel agencies
have been selling tickets on competing airlines, and so, enables it
to target travel agencies booking customers with rival airlines,"
the DOT said.
The department made two recommendations. The first would ban the
release of data on bookings made by individual travel agencies. It
would permit the sale of "aggregate" data that would not reveal how
many tickets were sold on any airline by any individual travel
agency.
The second recommendation would ban the release of data on
bookings for any airline that did not consent to the release of
such data.
The DOT said it would consider other possible restrictions,
including a ban on the release of data until some period of time
had elapsed after the booking "so that no airline could immediately
learn from the data how many bookings on its competitors were being
made by each travel agency."