American Airlines’ ‘Direct Connect’: A Success with OTAs

Every major online travel agency in the U.S., with the exception of Expedia, is connecting with American Airlines via its AADC application programming interface, according to Cory Garner, the carrier’s managing director, distribution and data commercialization.

AADC, also known as “direct connect,” allows OTAs to “display our seat maps with pricing that is specific to the customer’s status and to make available for sale,” Garner said.

When American first introduced the direct-connect concept in 2009, it approached travel agencies of all types – online and offline, leisure and corporate.

The carrier also envisioned connecting via the API with GDSs, which it saw as a necessity for the proper distribution of its ancillary products.

“It didn’t turn out the way we had hoped,” Garner said.

A long battle
When American began approaching players in the business travel sector, it set off a years-long pitched battle between American and two of the GDS companies – Sabre and Travelport – and Orbitz, then Travelport’s largest GDS customer.

Travelport also was Orbitz’s largest shareholder. Unknown to American at the time, Orbitz’s contract with Travelport prohibited it from pursuing direct connections with any carrier.

The dispute culminated in lawsuits and countersuits. In one case, American accused Sabre of instigating a boycott of the carrier by large travel management companies.

Even after the various lawsuits were settled in 2012 and 2013, American made little headway with the corporate market, Garner said, but the OTAs are a much different story.

On board
Priceline was an early adopter in 2011 and now even Orbitz is on board with the direct connection now that its previous contract with Travelport has expired.

Today, bookings flow through the API at a rate of 4 million annually.

When US Airways flights are recoded as AA flights, the number will increase to six million, Garner said. That will represent 15% of American’s agency volume, he added.

AADC will be American’s third-largest agency channel after Sabre and Travelport, just ahead of Amadeus. That volume comes almost exclusively from OTAs.

But Garner hasn’t given up on the corporate sector. “That’s at the top of my wish list,” he said.