The business travel industry’s adoption of #NDC has been much like the transportation industry’s slow transition to electric vehicles: Some strategies have come across as an attempt to rip out all the gas stations before the charging infrastructure is ready. 🔌
As I reflect on the panel I recently joined at BTN Group Tech Talk in Boston, it’s clear that every part of the industry still has a long way to go to support modern airline retailing. Most NDC uptake today is in the leisure space, and we TMCs are the new entrants to this game. While our NDC integrations have become a lot more mature even in just the last few months, unfortunately we still have a lot of historical processes to contend with.
The shift to modern retailing means that the airlines are now building their own tech, or partnering with third parties to take commercial control. As my co-panelist Jason Kramer noted, there’s no universal API for NDC, and each airline is building a unique solution. From my perspective, the only constant seems to be the way they’re implementing continuous pricing. There’s not even a standard way to report on NDC in the industry now.
So, until things become more consistent, we have to be cognizant of all the little ways to boost NDC adoption. In general, individual travelers don’t care if they are booking an NDC fare; they just want the best offer -- so #personalization will come into play in the form of tailored bundles. And since 40-50% of corporate bookings change before a trip, servicing will always be a critical component. We also must remember that a business trip involves much more than just a flight, so we have to consider the other elements.
For customers looking for content as the lead driver to a buying experience, we have solutions to that end. But many customers require highly complex solutions and, as my co-panelist Rachel Pang suggested, it’s going to be a long process. We have to move together to move forward.
