For well over a year, my organization, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), has tried to thwart American Airlines’ abusive attempt to force AA fliers and travel agencies to use its underdeveloped technology, the New Distribution Capability (NDC) booking platform.
Now, the airline is weaponizing its AAdvantage rewards program and will stop issuing miles to consumers who book through travel advisors who haven’t adopted AA’s NDC platform by May 1. As we count down to this arbitrary deadline, here are a few facts worth remembering:
American Airlines’ latest decision is highly unpopular
Thousands of travelers and travel advisors have voiced their concerns about AA’s move.
Through the issue awareness website SaveMyMiles.com, Congress received almost eight thousand messages from the public in the last few weeks.
American Airlines’ NDC platform is good for American, but not for consumers
AA claims that “customers are more satisfied with flexible and responsive NDC-enabled technologies.” If that is true, why does it need to weaponize the AAdvantage program to force people to use it? AA is touting NDC as though it’s akin to inventing fire. The reality is, NDC slices up the airline experience into smaller and smaller pieces, charging more and more for each slice, and calling it innovation. Real innovation would be seats sized for humans, on-time arrivals, and checked baggage that actually arrives.
Last year, AA cut 40% of its fares from non-NDC-enabled channels, but even that wasn’t enough to lure in customers. AA is creating an even more unlevel playing field for its NDC platform, proving that its new booking technology cannot stand on its own merit.
AA’s NDC platform is good for one entity, American Airlines. It compromises the ability to comparison shop airfares among carriers and gives it direct access to buyers’ personal online information, allowing AA to exploit consumer data for greater profit.
American Airlines’ technology is no replacement for the experience and customer care that travel advisors provide
Millions of individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies depend on travel advisors for more than merely booking a ticket.
Organizations large and small delegate the management of their travel programs and policies to travel management companies. Group travelers use travel agencies to streamline their travel plans while saving money through bulk purchasing. Leisure travelers enjoy peace of mind, knowing that an experienced and personally attentive professional is there to help them when complications arise.
AA’s technology, on the other hand, is often the cause of air travel meltdowns, rather than the solution. Who can forget, in 2018, following an error with the crew scheduling and tracking system of an AA affiliate, tens of thousands of travelers were marooned in airports nationwide, with over 2,800 flight cancellations in just a few days? The following year, more of AA’s internal struggles caused the infamous “summer from hell.”
According to the latest data from the Department of Transportation, only 69% of American’s flights were on time in January 2024, the worst among major U.S. airlines.
Throughout these frustrating and stressful moments, travel advisors were helping delayed travelers make connections, finding accommodations for stranded families, and seeking alternative flights for business professionals heading to client meetings.
Now, to force travelers to switch to AA’s proprietary booking platform, American is encroaching on consumers’ right to use travel advisors in today’s complex and unpredictable environment.
American Airlines is lying about the travel advisor industry
AA claims “travel agencies are stuck in the old ways of doing business.” Travel advisors have embraced every new technology available to them for decades, from e-ticketing to A.I. If we were stuck in the past, we wouldn’t sell 40% of all air tickets in America, making them us the second largest seller of air travel.
Most travel agencies are female-owned small businesses, employing local workers, serving urban and rural neighborhoods. As capable and resilient as our industry is, these businesses need time, resources, and training to adapt to large-scale technological shifts such as NDC.
All the major airlines, except American, understand this and have taken a much more gradual carrot versus stick approach to NDC implementation.
With both AA’s May 1 deadline and the summer travel season fast approaching, American consumers are heading towards an avoidable disaster entirely of AA’s making. ASTA continues to call on regulators and lawmakers to stop American Airlines’ anti-consumer behavior. However, AA, with the might of a near monopoly in many markets, may still get away with this blatant abuse of its market power, but the American public deserves to know the facts. They will remember that their travel advisors banded together and spoke truth to power on their behalf.
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