Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
08/21/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
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Critics of the new system is accused of invasion of privacy. Passenger data will be available to companies and agencies before submission of tariffs available
With the new system it will be possible, for example, reserve seats more spacious on the plane or choose the menu board, but privacy is at stake passenger Bloomberg
RIO - Airlines around the world are preparing to implement a controversial system of selling tickets that will allow them to offer a wider range of services and products to customers who buy tickets through travel agencies. Is it possible, for example, more spacious reserve seats on the plane, choose the menu board or hire services offered by partner companies, rental car or driver to take passengers from the airport to the hotel.
Some of these services are available on purchases made directly through the website of the airlines. But if the ticket is purchased at an agency, the client has access basically the options date and time of flights to your chosen destination, as the platforms used by companies and agencies little talk. The idea of the new system is just open a channel for direct dialogue with the end consumer, and thus extend gains on the sale of so-called ancillary services (everything that is not the sale of the ticket itself). In Brazil, the agencies account for almost half of the sale of tickets from airlines.
Dubbed the New Distribution Capability (NDC), the system is an initiative of the International Air Transport Association (Iata, its acronym in English), which brings together 240 companies in the sector worldwide. It comprises a set of procedures that aims to standardize communication between agencies and airlines in passenger sales, including the adoption of a single platform for data transmission, XML.
Guidelines for the implementation of the NDC listed in IATA Resolution 787, approved by the affiliated airlines in October 2012 and ratified at the last general meeting of the body in South Africa last June. For these guidelines, companies may make a series of personal questions to users to enable them to build a comprehensive database, with the historical record of the customer and travel information about their preferences, such as whether the trip is for pleasure or for work and what were the places visited recently. Such questions may be made before submission of tariffs available.
Today, purchases made directly from the website of the airline are stored in virtual enterprises, but the profile of customers who buy the tickets by travel agencies is unknown. And even the personal data requested by the airlines on their websites are limited to those strictly necessary for the issuance of the ticket, such as name and address. Furthermore, they are only requested after the choice of flight, at the time the purchase is being made.
Although there is no resolution to the prediction that the provision of personal data is required, critics already accuse the NDC of invasion of privacy. For tickets, additional data would allow them to simply provide a tailor, an example of which make many retail sites.
- The airlines want to monopolize the sale of tickets and modeling rates according to the profile of the passenger. The NDC will be the Big Brother of commercial aviation - says the president of the Brazilian Association of Travel Agencies (Abav), Antonio Azevedo.
Arm wrestling
Agencies have made a strong lobby contrary to NDC. Behind that arm wrestling is like losing commissions and investment they have to make on the new platform. Currently, many airlines already use XML, but it is not as widespread among agencies. Therefore, these make use of an intermediate system of ticket distribution - are three most used in the world: Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport - allowing their platforms to talk with the airline.
For each seat reservation made by a travel agent that uses one of three intermediates, the airline pays them an average of $ 6, of which up to $ 2 are with the travel agent, according to Azevedo. With the NDC, the figure of some intermediate and with it, the booking fee. A gain for the tickets, going through a lean period in the world, and a loss in the pockets of agents.
The most heated discussion has happened in the United States and Europe. The subject gained an editorial in the "New York Times" in March this year, entitled "Passenger regulars, prepare to pay more," in which the American Journal says airlines could charge higher fees for passengers who were known to be traveling for work . IATA denies that will happen and says the new system will cut costs for companies with consumer benefits.
The NDC is under examination in the Department of Transportation of the United States. In Brazil, the issue has not yet come to the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC). But some companies are already anticipating this process here. The goal, for example, already uses XML and the system already provides some ancillary services to clients of travel agencies that use the same platform. These travel insurance and the sale of special seats. Soon, she plans to offer the services of car rentals and hotel reservations for these clients. Both are only available today for those who purchase directly on the company website.
- Yet sat with IATA to discuss the NDC, but clearly it enables commercialization of all products in all sales channels. It is an opportunity to increase revenue - says Eduardo Bernardes, commercial director of Gol.
The pilot of the NDC was released this year, with at least 60 companies around the world. IATA does not disclose the names of companies, but it is known that there is among them Brazilian. The first results of the pilot must be disclosed by the association in October, at an event in Dublin, Scotland. The expectation is that the IATA period commercial implementation of the system occurs between 2015 and 2016. Membership is voluntary and each company will be "owner" of your database, ie, there is no information exchange between the air and, yes, between the airlines and travel agencies.
Source: The Globe - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.