Survey: Airlines Do Indeed Want to Cut GDS, OTA Sales

The results of a survey of airlines by SITA, one of the major providers of information technology to airlines, “confirms a desire to reduce GDS and online travel agency distribution,” an executive of the firm said.

At SITA’s annual Airline IT Summit in Brussels, Juergen Koelle, senior director of portfolio marketing for SITA, said the 2010 Airline IT Trends Survey results show a desire by airlines to increase their ancillary revenues and the use of self-service technologies on the Internet, through the mobile channel and on airport kiosks.

SITA sent the questionnaire to senior IT executives at the world’s top 200 passenger airlines. Koelle said that although a record 129 responses were received this year, U.S. carrier participation continues to be low due to legal concerns.

Survey respondents indicated that 50.4% of their tickets are currently distributed through the GDS channel, while just under 26% are sold through their own Web sites.

The airlines expect those proportions to nearly even out by 2013, with 41.4% of tickets sold through GDSs and 37.9% through their Web sites.

Airline respondents to the survey showed a marked interest in the mobile channel, with 70% saying they already sell or plan to sell via mobile phones by 2013.

To a slightly lesser extent, they plan to use the mobile channel for onboard service sales such as seat allocation or meals; ticket modifications, and upgrades.

Reducing costs is the greatest driver in airline IT decisions, Koelle said.

Henry Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, noted that online travel agencies have gained two to five points of market share during the recession at an estimated cost of $66 million to airlines in GDS fees.

The SITA study was conducted in conjunction with Airline Business magazine.