As the major carriers seek leverage to bring down Global Distribution System (GDS) costs, the global alliances are coming into play. Star Alliance members are already talking together and the prospect of Star becoming active in distribution is high on the agenda this year, says Horst Findeisen, vice-president commercial at the alliance: "If they are agile, the GDS don't have to get nervous about bulk buying, there could be benefits for both sides."
"At Star level we are preparing for GDS deregulation and looking at options to negotiate GDS terms in a deregulated market," adds Christian Hylander, vice-president sales and distribution at Star founder member SAS.
The work Star has done on connecting its members through IT integration could work to its advantage in bringing forward direct connect options. "Star has invested in technology to facilitate easy data flow between our carriers and providers – this can be GDSs, airports and other technology partners. That could extend to direct connect providers and we have listened to some of their proposals."
Oneworld and SkyTeam are also discussing how to use their collective muscle to get better GDS deals. Alliances must explore all avenues for reducing costs by using their volume to gain more leverage over suppliers, says Henri Hourcade, vice-president distribution and internet at SkyTeam founder member Air France. Any initiative could be alliance-wide or feature a group of carriers addressing a specific market.
According to John Slater, managing director of distribution planning at SkyTeam member Continental Airlines: "Clearly, we are thinking about an alliance-wide distribution platform, and what the value of that is to a distribution provider who would like to host it. The problem is that every one has different needs and it would be hard for an independent entity to provide that."
Source: Airline Business
