Travel Tech Formally Opposes the Application for Approval of IATA Resolution 787
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The closed-door deliberations by a group of major airlines to significantly limit how consumers shop and compare airline fares and schedules should not be endorsed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), a leading trade group representing travel distribution urged in its filing to the DOT.
Travel Tech: The Travel Technology Association formally submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) answers in opposition to the application by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for approval of the inter-carrier agreement contained in Resolution 787 (Enhanced Airline Distribution). Since IATA failed to show that the agreement to develop the New Distribution Capability (NDC) is in the public interest as required under 49 USC Section 41309, Resolution 787 should not be approved the association told the DOT.
"The application and the accompanying IATA documents raise serious questions about the motive behind the development of Resolution 787," said Simon Gros, Travel Tech's chairman. "The technological advancements IATA supposedly seeks to establish are already being developed by travel distribution and technology companies operating in the free market without any governmental encouragement, rendering DOT action in this area unnecessary."
Instead, Travel Tech argues that NDC is an outgrowth of an agreement between 240 competing IATA airlines that will obscure the true cost of flying, the impact of which would be to raise ticket prices for consumers worldwide.
"The traveling public values Travel Tech member companies because they enable effective comparison shopping across all airlines," Gros said. "It is incumbent upon the DOT to reject any collective airline industry attempt to substitute the current market-driven distribution system with a different model in the absence of any sufficient justification for doing so."
About Travel Tech
The Travel Technology Association, or Travel Tech, is the association for online travel companies (OTCs) and global distribution systems (GDSs), and is dedicated to connecting consumers and travel providers, eliminating barriers to travel and protecting consumers. Travel Tech's members include: Amadeus, Expedia, Orbitz Worldwide, Priceline, Sabre, Travelport and Vegas.com.
Contact: |
Robin Reck, Director of Communications |
202-870-8924 |
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SOURCE Travel Technology Association
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