Rolf shares how ATPCO is going to support airline retailing and NDC
It is such an honor to be recognized by Business Travel News (BTN) as one of the 2018 Most Influential People in Airline Travel. As I complete my second year as CEO, I am proud that ATPCO is recognized as both an innovator and a reliable partner to the industry.
For decades, ATPCO has worked tirelessly to reliably automate the collection and distribution of fares and rules. Evolving with the industry and technology, the “new ATPCO” is adding much more to that solid foundation. We are using our unique position to act as a neutral steward for airline retailing, driven by significant investments and expertise to enable the industry’s quest for airline retailing and NDC. This is ATPCO’s number-one priority.
We are doing this in four ways:
1. Routehappy Content
ATPCO acquired Routehappy a year ago to bring together their retailing capabilities with our extensive fare data so that airlines and distributors can easily align rich content with pricing. Enhancing our distribution capabilities means we can better serve both airlines and sellers who are evolving flight shopping.
2. Dynamic Pricing
In the last three years, we have engaged 88 organizations and 290 participants in our industry-wide discussion on what the future of dynamic pricing looks. We are bringing key players together to define the types of dynamic pricing across the industry with PODs Research LLC, developing a dynamic pricing engine pilot and implementation guide, and working collaboratively on the next era of continuous pricing.
3. New Distribution Capability (NDC)
ATPCO is laser-focused on offering the right connectivity options for all our customers’ content, whether traditional models, NDC, or both. Air Canada, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, LATAM, GOL, United Airlines, and Finnair have already joined our platform, NDC Exchange, which enables content interoperability across the airline distribution ecosystem. With one simple connection, sellers, and can easily access all carriers and airlines all sellers, lowering the cost of development and implementation.
4. Next-Generation Storefront
When I look to the immediate future, I may be most excited about the big industry conversation on retailing: the Next-Generation Storefront. It’s a set of industry data standards we are developing to ensure airline products are positioned efficiently and effectively across channel partners. One of the reasons we launched this initiative is to help airlines and their channel partners showcase attractive product options in a way easy for travelers to understand. As airlines develop more sophisticated branded products, it is becoming more complex for consumers to see those options in third-party channels, so developing this standard is a win-win for all. It also serves as an example of how ATPCO is growing as an industry platform—delivering value and efficiencies back into the marketplace through standards and governance.
Now more than ever, the industry is looking for an airline-owned solution that can offer neutral solutions that benefit the entire supply chain, all the way down to the consumer
As an industry platform that manages content for more than 430 airlines with over 180 million public and private fares on our database, we are well positioned to act as this neutral partner. Our platform creates a level playing field where airlines and channel partners can come together to create the right solutions.
Thank you to BTN for acknowledging our role in the airline industry. As we keep building tomorrow’s distribution solutions, I encourage you to join your expertise with ours in working groups and other events for co-innovation that elevate the airline industry.
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