American Airlines Files Response to Travel Agents' NDC Complaint

23.11.2023 - 18:42 / skift.com / Robert Isom / Selene Brophy / Airlines

American Airlines has responded to the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) complaint about the airline’s ticket distribution through the New Distribution Capability (NDC), calling it “a frivolous compilation of rhetoric and unsupported allegations.” 

The airline refuted ASTA’s claim that its actions harm competition or consumers. It suggested that ASTA’s complaint represents an effort by some travel agencies to impede the pace of innovation due to their reluctance to invest in new technologies.

“ASTA’s complaint is not an effort to protect consumers: it is an effort to protect certain agencies,” said American. “It is a plea to the government, on behalf of some travel agencies, to slow the pace of innovation for those agencies that have not invested in new technologies or adjusted old ways of doing business.”  

In a complaint filed in July with the Department of Transport (DOT), ASTA said that by removing over 40% of its fare inventory from traditional, i.e., non-NDC, booking channels, American Airlines was causing substantially higher air ticket prices for consumers, indirectly impacting the ability of travel agents to do their job .  

In its response, filed on Tuesday, American Airlines stated that NDC is more transparent than the older Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport (EDIFACT) technologies. The airline said it continues to make all fares viewable and comparable in both EDIFACT and NDC channels.

American Airlines has made more changes to its distribution strategy than nearly any giant carrier in the world, since around 2006. Its response echoed the sentiments of CEO Robert Isom, expressed earlier in November at the Skift Aviation Forum, that NDC is a “competitive and consumer-friendly advancement” in the travel industry.

The lengthy response to the DOT sees American emphasize the NDC-enabled transparency for consumers.

“The evidence shows that customers are (understandably) more satisfied with flexible and responsive NDC-enabled technologies than with dated Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport (“EDIFACT”) technologies launched in the 1970s,” said American. “And for good reason: Customers who are given more information can select what they value, and they understand what they are buying… There is no evidence in ASTA’s 50-plus-page complaint that American’s NDC plans have led to higher prices or fewer options on any route, increased American’s alleged dominance, or otherwise harmed consumers. ” 

“ASTA’s complaint is limited to the fact that American does not allow all of its fares to be transactable using EDIFACT. That may be problematic for agencies stuck in the old way of doing business, but customers, of course, can