Originally Posted by
BWISkyGuy
I was speaking more to the point about loss of any current functionality or booking ability... This will definitely continue to require work in the future for the GDSs to keep up with all offerings that develop, but if two of the three GDSs are currently pulling data through NDC APIs, and the third goes live next month, then most (or maybe all) corporate booking engines would at least have the functionality they currently have. They're pulling that content will no longer offered via the Edifact protocol through the NDC APIs, for the current functionality. The GDSs are the backbone for the legacy travel tools that corporate agencies use -- or at least all the ones I'm aware of or have used.
We've heard that Amadeus and Travelport and NDC-ready for years now, but they're really only ready for
some NDC transactions. Even today, according to IATA, Amadeus is able to shop / order / pay, but not service tickets. And if the TMC can't manage your ticket or make changes, then the system is still broken despite AA's assertion that Amadeus is "ready".
I guess we'll see shortly how ready the industry is for this. My company is expecting a significant loss in content, which will drive a lot of noise and a reduction in AA market share.