Marking a change in direction, Delta has agreed to a deal that will make Travelport's travel agent subscribers the first retailers who have the ability to sell Delta's premium economy seats, Economy Comfort, which offer more leg room.
The deal enables Travelport to integrate Economy Comfort into the standard travel agency desktop, for users of Galileo, Worldspan and Apollo GDSs, later this year.
An agreement with the nation's second-largest airline, behind the merged United/Continental, is significant for GDSs, which have long been trying to integrate more ancillary content into their booking systems.
Currently, Sabre and Travelport provide GDS subscribers with access to United Airlines' Economy Plus seating, and Amadeus has an agreement with United to make those seats available to its customers sometime this year. (GDS users in March temporarily lost the ability to book United's premium economy seating when the carrier transferred its reservations system to a new platform as part of its merger with Continental.)
Travelport said this agreement is Delta's largest ancillary-service partnership to date and demonstrates Delta's "ongoing commitment to work with distribution partners in broadening access to popular ancillary products."
Wayne Aaron, Delta's vice president of marketing programs and distribution strategy, said in a statement, "We are always willing to work with partners like Travelport who bring value to the distribution chain and can deliver our product on a cost-effective basis."
Even so, it represents an about-face for Delta, which had initially said it did not expect to offer its premium seats through indirect channels.
Consumers can currently purchase Delta's Economy Comfort seats, which offer three to four inches of additional legroom as well as priority boarding, at Delta.com, through a Delta reservations agent or at the airport via kiosk or a ticket agent.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson last year told Travel Weekly's sister publication The Beat that the carrier at that time did "not envision at this point GDS distribution," as he saw "an opportunity for us to differentiate our brand" by keeping the option exclusively in direct channels.
He left the possibility open, however, by adding that GDS distribution could "occur in the future."
Derek Sharp, Travelport's president for the Americas, said last week that the agreement "underscores that Travelport is ready, willing and able to deliver technology to merchandise ancillary products and services through the travel agency channel to provide travelers with additional options and added convenience."
Travelport became the first airline to make such an agreement with Delta, although Sabre hinted last November it was in talks with the airline.
Shelly Terry, Sabre's senior director of airline merchandising, told Travel Weekly that Sabre was talking with many airlines, including Delta, about distribution of their ancillary products through the Sabre GDS. She said she was confident Sabre would one day be able to distribute Delta's premium economy seats.
"Their intention was always to launch it in the direct channel first and then bring it to the indirect channel," Terry said.
Douglas Quinby, a PhoCusWright analyst, called the agreement "a significant development."
"We have seen clear demand from agencies, especially on the all-important corporate side of the agency market, to be able to book the content," he said.
Quinby added that corporate clients, who are generally higher-end, are more likely to book through agencies, especially when it's mandated by an employer. So not having access to the seats via the GDS "is both a revenue issue and a customer service issue" for Delta.
As for Delta's change of heart, Quinby said the carrier must have crunched the numbers.
"Delta seems to have made the calculation that the revenue opportunity is greater by allowing intermediaries to book some ancillary services through their distribution systems, rather than forcing all comers to their direct channels," he said.
Travelport's clients said the agreement would benefit all parties.
"It's very good news," said Matthew DeGuire, co-owner of Travel Unlimited in Columbia, S.C. "I only wish it could come sooner than 'later this year.'"
DeGuire said the move will open up "a huge revenue opportunity" for the carriers and, at the same time, "greatly streamline" the travel agent's workflow, as well as benefit customers "because airline ticketed-related charges can gradually be folded into one booking source."
DeGuire was among many agents who said they hoped this agreement would lead to more.
"Once this hurdle is crossed, I am sure more carriers and GDSs will be in a hurry to jump on the bandwagon," he said. "Ancillary services are all about incremental revenue for the airlines, and if Delta has worked out a mutually beneficial cost arrangement with Travelport, it only stands to reason that others will follow suit."
That is a claim that GDSs have long been making.
Last November, Sabre's Terry said, "Most [airlines] are by and large very excited to embrace these capabilities. They want to get their product into as many channels as possible and on as many shelves as possible."
Follow Johanna Jainchill on Twitter @jjainchilltw.