Delta Air Lines is the last of the big three US carriers to implement a New Distribution Capability (NDC) strategy but the wait soon may be over.
The company is preparing to unveil its NDC strategy - or at least some of it - at a corporate showcase in the US later this week, according to Sara Reid, Delta’s managing director of sales technology and global sales support.
During an Elevate and TravelConnect event in Washington DC last week, Reid didn't let any NDC secrets out of the bag, but instead noted the strategy would be an "iterative process" with some of the plan's "first milestones" to come out towards the end of 2024.
"We are committed to the ecosystem, committed to creating value for our partners, and we want to make sure that our journey is to be customer-oriented," Reid said.
"It's important to know we remain committed to business travel on this journey and remain committed to the third-party partners."
Reid added that Delta "right now has no plans to follow other airlines' strategies to remove content [from EDIFACT] or impose surcharges at this point".
US rival American Airlines caused controversy last year when it removed 40 per cent of its fares from EDIFACT channels and made them only available through NDC-based platforms. American is also changing its loyalty programme to drive more sales through NDC channels.
Meanwhile, United Airlines has also removed some Basic Economy fares from EDIFACT channels, which are now only available directly through the airline’s booking platforms or NDC-enabled portals.
Reid said that Delta’s approach would focus on servicing and not just selling its products. "If we can only sell our products and not service them, then we're missing something. The key to our journey is better servicing," she added.
Over the past six months, Delta has pulled together an interdepartmental team to meet with travel agencies, online booking tools, global distribution systems and corporate travel buyers to assess current processes, explained Reid.
AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee, who was on stage with Reid at last week’s event, is among the participants in Delta's research.
"I really appreciate the thoughtful approach that Delta is taking to this," Klee said. "To be fair, they're coming at this a little late, but really trying to get the benefit of that hindsight.
“They sent a team to our offices, and to many of their other partners, and they are diving into and dissecting every little detail about our operations, so that when they release this product or build this product, they are not leaving any stone unturned."