Suspicious buyers, leery travel agencies and global distribution systems have long feared that the International Air Transport Association¡¯s New Distribution Capability standards would shut them out of the distribution landscape. ¡°A few years ago, you couldn¡¯t mention NDC to a large travel agency. It was like, ¡®Get out of my office,¡¯¡± United Airlines director of distribution Tye Radcliffe said at The Beat Live conference last fall. ¡°Now we¡¯re having a dialogue. We¡¯re going to work on it together, and it¡¯s more of a foregone conclusion that it¡¯s coming.¡± The broad industry acceptance of late paves the way for real progress after the slow march forward.

American Airlines VP of sales and distribution strategy Cory Garner sees a ¡°tremendous amount of warmth¡± toward technology that will advance distribution. American last year enacted an incentive program that offers $2 for each American Airlines fare segment that¡¯s booked through a full, end-to-end Level 3 NDC connection with the carrier. That applies to American Airlines-marketed fares, not fares marketed by codeshare partners. ¡°There has been a tremendous expansion, not just in the U.S. but also globally,¡± Garner said. ¡°We¡¯re now operable in 30 countries, and we¡¯re certified for 150 more. It feels like we¡¯re at the precipice of something because the intensity of the conflict has died down.¡±

In April, when Air France-KLM launches its 11 euro per-way fee on bookings made through GDSs, Europe¡¯s three biggest airline groups all will be aligned in issuing such charges. More carriers likely will surcharge GDS bookings, offer incentives for NDC-enabled bookings or implement a combined approach this year.

On the GDS side, Travelport closed out 2017 with the announcement that it was the first GDS certified as a Level 3 aggregator under NDC, and it plans to announce its first airline connection partner soon. Sabre president and CEO Sean Menke said at The Beat Live that his company will achieve Level 3 certification by the third quarter of 2018, and Amadeus also has said it will do so sometime this year.

Even so, GDSs continue with caution. ¡°Part of the reason it¡¯s taken so long is that when IATA first launched this, they tried to cut out the GDS,¡± Travelport global head of product and marketing Ian Heywood said at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives¡¯ global conference in London in the fall. ¡°And now it¡¯s the opposite, so we¡¯re trying to drive this forward but in a sensible manner. This is a major change but it¡¯s in a much more controlled manner, and that¡¯s what we need.¡±

Whatever the momentum, the period of arguing is in the past, according to Farelogix president and CEO Jim Davidson. ¡°The train has left,¡± he said at the ACTE conference. ¡°There are still people trying to pull it back, but this will replace how airlines connect to all their distribution outlets. The big difference is the airline has a choice in how they want to connect, no different than any other technology or retail company.¡±