Alexandria, Va (January 15, 2004) -- The Association of Corporate Travel Executives' global membership raised the first red flags regarding GDS deregulation. An announcement from British Airways, which affects only UK-based agencies, will impose a "distribution supplement" on bookings made by agencies via GDSs other than Sabre or Galileo. This is seen as the first action in the wake of the recently deregulated GDS industry. The implications for the business travel industry could be large, should other airlines adopt similar strategies in other markets.

If this strategy is expanded, and adopted by other airlines, it could require corporations to negotiate directly with the GDSs, to ensure access to the full inventory of their preferred carriers. The dependency on unobstructed access to preferred carriers might create different models for consolidation and globalization than corporations have been pursuing up to this point. It is possible these new models would allow the flexibility for regional offices to subscribe to the distribution channel of their preferred regional carriers.

Some ACTE members contend that similar action, if taken by other carriers, would reduce nonaligned GDS systems to mere resellers of tickets, driving up the cost of business travel.

It's expected that the general deregulation of the GDS industry will allow GDSs and airlines to reach new terms regarding services, providing travel agents with greater access to airline inventory and reducing carrier distribution costs. Some ACTE members have questioned whether these reductions in distribution costs will be seen by the customer.

For more information, contact:
Jack Riepe
ACTE Communications Director
t: 610-719-8396
c: 610-256-0124
e: [email protected]