Keep the 2030 airline offers vision, but take action now
Does the hype ever make you feel that airline offers and orders are a world away from current infrastructure and capabilities? Of course, we’re all familiar with and inspired by the 2030 vision—the transformation to airline offers and orders over the next decade. But what about the here and now? What about 2022? Is a brand-new offer and order system really the price of admission to get started with dynamic offers, NDC, and retailing?
The answer is, thankfully, no.
While airline offer and order management concepts are relatively new, much of the underlying techniques and technologies are evolutionary rather than transformational. Right now, in 2022, airline leaders can deliver high-impact retailing results by adapting existing systems while simultaneously planning for and investing in the long-term vision.
How do we at ATPCO know this is true? Because we see it happening, and we know who’s doing it.
I'm David Smith, head of airline standards at ATPCO. I am delighted to welcome you to Offer, Order, Action, a new blog series dedicated to practical steps airlines can take today to drive meaningful retailing results.
Real-life airline offer and order management inspired by ATPCO Council members
We created this series based on the inspiration of real-life innovators that sit on the ATPCO Councils and Design Teams: The people making it happen.
ATPCO Council members are a group of representative airlines, technology providers, and channels that have demonstrated outstanding, pragmatic innovation for their organizations. They also share a commitment to helping the industry at large realize a practical roadmap to airline retailing. These are people who have done their time in the trenches, and they are willing to tell their tales in the spirit of industry collaboration and advancement.
The work of ATPCO Councils supports four critical initiatives for ATPCO and the industry, each addressing a fundamental question about the future of airline retailing:
- Dynamic Offer Creation, or How do you create the offer?
- New Distribution Capability (NDC), or How do you Distribute the offer?
- Next Generation Storefront (NGS), or How do you present the offer?
- Offer Order Settlement, or How do you service and reconcile the order?
In this new Offer, Order, Action series, we will share stories and recommendations of ATPCO Council members relating to each of the above industry initiatives. Our laser focus is on pragmatic, incremental approaches to airline offer and order innovation. Our mantra is less theory, more practice. Our commitment is to illustrate concrete, tangible steps forward on the airline retailing path.
Quick wins at each stage of the travel distribution ribbon
The journey of an offer spans the entire travel distribution ribbon, including offer creation, order management, servicing, settlement, and reporting. The ATPCO Council and Design Teams are innovating at each step of the process—and now we will be sharing their insights and stories with you.
Here’s a taste of what you can expect in upcoming posts for Offer, Order, Action:
- Dynamic Offers: Using dual RBD to advance one step closer to optimizing pricing and revenue per seat while maintaining control of the offer
- New Distribution Capability: Leveraging existing industry infrastructure for differentiated pricing so you can focus on your distribution strategy
- Next Generation Storefront: Using simple attribute filters to modernize the consumer shopping experience, founded on your existing revenue management gates
- 100% automation of change: Making sure you’re correctly represented for shopping, pricing, and consumer servicing by covering all your offers with a simple change and refund policy
And we’re just getting started.
Please join me on what’s sure to be a thought-provoking, action-inspiring series. And if you have ideas for topics, please email me at dsmith@atpco.net.
Let’s move toward offers and orders together, one step at a time: offers, orders, action!
Learn more about ATPCO Councils
Offer, Order, Action
This blog article is part of a series. Please read all the articles!
