IATA Selects Open AXIS for New Distribution Plan

IATA’s Passenger Distribution Group selected the Open AXIS XML schema as the starting point for development of IATA’s New Distribution Capability.

The New Distribution Capability (NDC) will use the schema to create a standard framework for airlines to distribute personalized products based on the customer’s identity and/or characteristics. (A schema is a means of defining the structure and content of XML documents.)

The Open AXIS schema was approved by a 10-1 vote, despite having received lower scores in IATA’s evaluation process than the OpenTravel Alliance’s schema, which also was considered.

Selection process
The primary driver of its selection appears to be the issue of governance: IATA wanted an airline-controlled process, and it will acquire full ownership of the schema. In an email, Alexander von Bernstorff, chairman of IATA’s Distribution Data Exchange Working Group, told members that “IATA will acquire full ownership of the schema.”

Valyn Perini, chief executive officer of OpenTravel, said the organization had presented IATA with an alternative governance model that would give it full control over the schema. She said IATA acknowledged receipt of the proposal but did not comment further on it.

Story behind the story
The Open AXIS schema was created by Farelogix, the company that developed direct-connect technology for American Airlines and Air Canada. Graham Wareham, Air Canada’s senior director, distribution and consumer direct, chairs IATA’s Passenger Distribution Group.

Farelogix donated the schema to Open AXIS shortly after the organization was formed in 2010 by a group of airlines, including American and Air Canada, to promote XML as the preferred method of connecting with intermediaries.

In January, ATPCO became the sole custodian of the schema, as Open AXIS wound down its activities. It is not clear how IATA will gain control over it. In a statement, IATA said it is “collaborating with ATPCO for the use of Open Axis schemas as a basis of IATA’s NDC standard.”

NDC controversy
From the beginning, the NDC project has been surrounded by controversy.

Some travel agency groups said they were not adequately represented or kept in the loop. GDS companies have wondered whether the real goal is bypass. Industry organizations have suggested that the use of customer data in creating offers could violate privacy regulations.

At a recent Farelogix media event, Doug Lavin, IATA’s regional vice president for North America, acknowledged that “IATA has done a bad job of telling this story. We’ve given the incumbents a chance to confuse the issue even more.”

NDC explained
NDC’s message is simple, Lavin said: It is “an IATA-led, collaborative industry initiative to build an open Internet-based data transmission standard for use in indirect channels.”

Airlines want to change the fact that they are the last to know who is buying their products, he said. They want to create offers based on customer needs and preferences.

In contrast, he said, GDSs currently develop the offers based only on fares and schedules.

The next step for NDC is pilot projects, which will begin in April. Among them will be the Airline Commerce Gateway recently unveiled by Farelogix. (See: Farelogix Creates Platform for Multichannel Access to Air Content, Feb. 14, 2013.)