BRITISH Airways is ready to axe its products from one
of the four global distribution systems unless they all lower their costs –
further distancing itself from the trade.
The move – the latest cost-cutting measure to emerge
as part of its Future Size and Shape review – could effectively deny thousands
of travel agents access to BA fares.
Speaking at the Guild of Business Travel Agents
conference in Toronto, BA general manager field sales Ian Heywood warned: “The
GDS costs are unacceptable and we can’t continue to pay the prices being
demanded of us.
“We either work together or we will be forced to put
into place a solution of our own.
“We could limit the number of GDSs we use, move
towards a tendering process and then work with those who offer us the most
competitive price.”
Airlines pay a typical fee of around £5 per ticket
when a booking is made via a GDS in the UK.
Most agencies have deals with just one system – so if BA dumped one GDS it could potentially
exclude a quarter of its agency network. Although high-street agents are
increasing using consolidators to find competitive BA fares, many domestic and
international routes have to be booked through the agency’s GDS system.
“If we got rid of one GDS, it would mean things have
got pretty bad,” said Heywood. “But if we can’t come to a managed solution, we
will impose our own and that would make it very messy in the marketplace.”
Separately, BA general manager global distribution
Chris Vukelich said the carrier had been charged £75 by a GDS for customers
checking availability on an on-line agency.
“The cost of booking by segment has reached £75. We
need to do something because the GDS companies cannot continue to do this.”
Sabre senior vice-president for Europe, Middle East
and Africa Chris Kroeger said its 3% fee increase this year was the lowest
increase for 10 years. Galileo general manager UK Pat Minogue said it had been
looking at ways to resolve the issue but said it had not yet come up with any
solutions.
Amadeus director of marketing Mark Lewsey argued its
fees were the lowest of the GDSs and the company charged a “professional fee
for a professional service”.
Worldspan staff
vice-president business development Europe Middle East and Africa Tim Wright
said the company was willing to listen
to ideas from BA.