NDC Debate Heats Up as IATA Seeks DOT Approval

The debate over IATA’s New Distribution Capability went public when the airline association filed an application with the U.S. Transportation Department for approval of its Resolution 787, the agreement that establishes the framework for NDC.

The application addresses the numerous objections to NDC that have been raised since the adoption of the resolution. (See: Airline Group Fears Airline Access to Client Data Under IATA Plan and IATA Distribution Plan Unleashes War of Words)

Gary Doernhoefer, IATA’s general counsel, told Travel Market Report that “if our intent was to do all these ‘evil things,’ the last thing we would do is create a standard.”

BTC raises objections
One of the more vocal opponents of NDC is Kevin Mitchell of the Business Travel Coalition. He responded to IATA’s filing by distributing to the press copies of the minutes of various IATA meetings, heavily annotated with his interpretations.

The debate has taken on a sort of “he said, she said” quality.

Mitchell, for example, has maintained that the resolution is binding.

But IATA stated in its application that “airlines are free to decide whether or not to distribute enhanced content (such as ancillaries) through multiple channels of distribution. If an airline chooses to distribute enhanced content through both direct and indirect channels, it is expected to work within the data formats to be developed pursuant to the Resolution in order to achieve the intended standardization and efficiencies. However, Resolution 787 does not obligate any IATA member to implement the provisions in whole or in part.”

Within the resolution itself is the assertion that “any cost attributable to this new business model, from IT research development to implementation/operation, will not be incumbent on members who do not wish to adopt it.”

Backward compatibility?
Mitchell also has criticized IATA for determining that the new standard will not be designed to be backward-compatible to the existing Edifact-based networks.

IATA’s application notes that “nothing prevents third parties from developing backward compatibility, and the Resolution provides the freedom for airlines to distribute their content through the legacy networks, use the new XML standard, or both.”

Privacy issue?
Mitchell and other critics of NDC have said the data points that will be supported by the standard – the passenger’s age, gender and marital status, for example – constitute an invasion of privacy, even though a passenger’s date of birth and gender is now required by the Department of Homeland Security.

IATA’s application states that the new standard is intended to accommodate either an anonymous shopping request or customized offers if more information is provided by the consumer, and the specific examples of data points are not intended to be mandatory.

IATA also denies critics’ assertions that the point of NDC is to raise fares. Rather, it has said repeatedly that its goal is to enable airlines to craft offers of products that customers will find suit their needs and are therefore more attractive.

IATA statements on the filing
IATA said that under the “Provisions for Conduct of IATA Traffic Conferences,” it is required to file with the DOT all resolutions and agreements coming out of its various conferences.

It said that “while a case could be made that IATA already held the authority to proceed with the development of this standard under an already approved resolution, IATA decided in the interest of transparency to file Resolution 787, which would also give interested parties the right to comment.”

Included in the filing, which is posted on Regulations.gov, are the resolution itself and a “detailed description” that seeks to clarify some of its language.

Also included are extracts from the minutes of a meeting held during IATA’s Passenger Services Conference in Abu Dhabi last October at which Resolution 787 was adopted.