A global #TMC has a talking point that I have heard them repeat about 6 times. In an apparent reference to AmTrav and our few like-minded competitors, they say it is "irresponsible" to launch #NDC with one airline in one country and "declare victory".
Well, setting aside the fact that AmTrav actually has done 4, not 1 implementations and are working on many more, isn't it good to have started somewhere? A fairer criticism would be to ask why we only have 4. I'd like to have 20. (We're working toward that). But surely 4, or even 1, is better than 0, right?
My intent is not to knock this particular TMC who I do have a lot of respect for and whose position in the market I am envious of. Rather, it's to address the fact that right now every airline NDC implementation IS a one off. Each carrier has different offerings, different workflows, and different applications of the schema. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
There is a tradeoff between standards and capabilities. #GDSs and those who want to get their content from GDSs are in the standards camp. They are happy that GDSs are trying desperately to normalize NDC connections and make them all fit into something resembling traditional TMC workflows. But the problem with that is that if you insist airlines work within standards that don’t support the full breadth of what they want to offer, or you try to shoehorn all NDC offerings into a lowest common denominator API or workflow, you end up sucking all the richness out of those offerings. Given the choice between having to do a one off for each airline, or having them all standardized in a way that constrains their capabilities, I'll take the one off every time.
I know many argue that it’s not practical for a TMC or booking tool to separately connect to each airline. I’ll call bullshit on that. It’s a lazy position. Look at all the aggregators who have cropped up -- many of them small startups with way less resources than the big TMCs. They’ve connected to lots of airlines. That's not easy or instant, but its possible and, in fact, it’s our job. We exist to do whatever it takes to deliver the best combination of fares, choice, convenience, and serviceability for every supplier we sell. We may wish that were really easy or that #airlines would act more in unison, but we can scream about that until the cows come home, it won’t make it reality. We owe it to our customers to deal with the world the way it is, not the way we wish it were. Right now that means a bunch of bespoke integrations to provide the best experience. If we can’t or won’t make that effort, why shouldn't travelers just book direct?
So, to me, anytime a TMC or platform goes 100% NDC on any airline in any country, it's a win for the TMC and for its customers and it deserves to be applauded, not mocked. Offering a modern, best-in-class experience for customers on 10 airlines is better than doing it on 5 which is better than 3 and better than 1 and all of it is better than zero.
Global Enterprise GM, and CTO of SumUp USA. GP at Operator Stack Fund.
4moGreat work by the team over at Cardless!!!Operator Stack Fund and Ecotone Fund are proud to be supporting these guys on their journey!