The Biz at BTN Podcast · Business Travel News

NDC Ecosystem Update 2024 Part 2 TMCs & OBTs

·56 min·3 clips

John Bukowski says customers should not wait 10 years for airlines to refresh PSS systems.

NDC is still unfinished infrastructure. Michael Baker sets up the conversation through BTN's special report and American Airlines pulling a large portion of fares from traditional EDIFACT channels. The supplier view came first. This part moves to the intermediaries, with panelists from Spotnana, American Express Global Business Travel, BCD Travel, Encore Corporate Travel, and Amtrav. The GDS question gets practical quickly. One guest says using the GDS only for the long tail is not enough to support the role it has played in managed travel. The point is not that the pipes should fail. The better outcome, from that view, is for GDS providers to handle modern content in modern ways and stay useful. The irritation here is operational, not ideological. If GDS channels can deliver NDC content as well as direct connections, that path sounds preferable. But connectivity is only one layer. The harder issue is what content airlines choose to send through that connectivity, and whether NDC becomes part of a wider direct-channel push. Supplier websites add another pressure point. The panel contrasts managed travel marketplaces with supplier.com, where each airline shows its own offer instead of a competitive cross-carrier view. For corporate customers, that difference matters. A managed program can show when another carrier is cheaper. A single supplier site has little reason to make that comparison. Baker closes with a handoff to buyer perspectives, keeping the NDC debate tied to travel operations instead of abstract distribution theory.

As heard by us

A grounded panel on NDC, GDS reach, and the sticking points in travel distribution.

This episode tracks the business travel industry’s progress and friction around NDC, with the panel staying close to the middle of distribution: the TMCs, the GDS, and the airlines deciding how content moves.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the TMC view of NDC, with the operational tradeoffs spelled out by people in the middle of it all.

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