If the coalition of anti-fee forces were upset about ancillary services affecting GDS displays, what will they think of the new Travelport sponsored availability displays?
Exhibit one for the prosecution are the new displays that will confront travel agencies world wide who use the Galileo and Apollo systems from today.
Firstly a bit of background. Travelport operates three separate GDSs: Worldspan (worldwide), Apollo (US and some other locations in Japan) and Galileo (Non-USA markets worldwide).
Each of them operates a separate set and Travelport has indicated they are not going to merge them into a single host. While that is costing them a certain sum of money in lack of synergy, it is a decision they do not seem to be deviating from.
The sponsored displays are scheduled to appear for the first time today, according to Travelport documents, bringing up to three lines of additional display as seen below:
The standard eight line display will be supplemented with the words “Sponsored Flights” and up to three lines of flight displays. There can also be no sponsored display and one or two lines of carrier-sponsored flights.
Travelport will be the first GDS to provide such a facilitiy.
To make way for the new four lines of information (including title), Travelport will drop some space separation. However they will continue to allow the sponsorship of a hotel line.
In my view this jars slightly against ECAC regulations on display in several ways. Specifically, I believe that the example above, with the display of three lines of the same operated flight (BA302), is slightly odd to say the least.
While there is nothing specific to stop a sponsored display per se, it would appear to break the spirit of the regulations. What would appear to be the case is that it effectively moves removes flights from the principal first screen.
The case being that there was room for four additional lines but Travelport did not use them previously to increase options of choice in the first display to the agent user.
Travelport’s release notes make no mention of the ECAC CRS regulations.
UPDATE: Travelport says the sponsored flights are not included in EEA (European Community countries) and also Switzerland "at this stage".