American Airlines has signed new long-term distribution deals with the world's three largest distribution systems: Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport.
Continuing to work the major GDSs
Earlier today, American Airlines announced the signing of major agreements with Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport. The three companies are the world's major distribution systems. The newly signed agreements allow American Airlines to offer retailers and corporate customers the best availability through New Distribution Capability (NDC) connections in 2023.
"We are proud to sign these new agreements and continue to strengthen our relationships with the three leading global distribution systems. We look forward to working with our distribution partners to expand our retailing capabilities, using NDC technology, to provide travel retailers and customers the products and services most meaningful to them.”
What are Global Distribution Systems?
Global Distribution Systems are computerized networks that work between travel service providers and travel agents and facilitate bookings. GDSs allow agents to compare prices between vendors in real time and quickly create itineraries for clients. Sabre was the first GDS ever created, by IBM and American Airlines, and was available online in the 1960s.
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Initially, Sabre was created to automate American's internal reservation system but eventually grew to include cruises, hotels, car rentals, flights with other airlines, and other travel services.
Recent American Airlines news
American Airlines officially announced that it is getting rid of its first class product on international flights. For a number of years, first class products have been disappearing from aircraft and being replaced with business class products that are similar.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines eliminated their first class products in 1998 and 2016, respectively. American Airlines currently offers first class on its 20 Boeing 777-300ER (77W) and Airbus A321T aircraft, both of which are soon to be retrofitted with a new business class product recently announced by the airline. Nearly all of American's widebody aircraft will continue to feature a first class cabin, but not like the lie-flat seats available on the A321T.
"The quality of the business class seat has improved so much. And frankly, by removing [first class] we can go provide more business class seats, which is what our customers most want or are most willing to pay for." - Vasu Raja, Chief Commercial Officer, American Airlines
Last week, American Airlines announced its Q3 financial results. The airline had its best quarter in history with total operating revenues of $13.5 billion. American Airlines' 2022 third quarter was 13% higher than the third quarter of 2019, though its capacity is about 10% below 2019 levels.
Robert Isom credited the American Airlines team for continuing to achieve the airline's goals of running a reliable operation and returning to profitability. Isom emphasized that demand is still strong and that people worldwide value air travel. Despite natural disasters in both Florida and Texas, American Airlines has restored its reliability to pre-pandemic levels and expects this momentum to be carried through to 2023.