American pulls tickets from Orbitz

[WorldTraveler]

Technically, airlines *are* the suppliers. It is the re-sellers and distributors who are being accused of balking at change.

agree....
this is a battle that has to be fought.... the question is how quickly change ultimately will come and how much pain AA will incur as the "lead dog" in the race....

 

[Frank Szabo]

Had the opportunity to go underground and have a look when the ex (one or two ago) was invited to the only open house Sabre ever had, I believe.

I didn't make it due to a previous engagement at the old Marine Lounge (with a few drafts) in Tulsa but the ex went - she commented about the 4XXX series IBM equipment (and better) installed which at that time was on the ragged edge of becoming the T-Rex of the data services world - near extinction.

Haven't kept up with the new stuff since then except for PC-type goodies but it seems as though AMR got rid of Sabre at just the right time for max price and utility yet knowing full well that "direction" wouldn't be practical re: their preferred method of of ticket sales. Perhaps the cretins in IT actually saw the future, that is, knowing full well the average schmo would be rather pleased knowing they screwed someone out of a dollar or two by purchasing -whatever- online. In this case, they'll get to hose the travel agents and delivery systems dealing directly with the airline(s) and these guys saw it years ago, it appears - a very popular thing for consumers to do nowadays.

As I recall, there never was (and still isn't) a version of anything Windows/MAC/PC compatable that would run on a machine built for TSO, VTAM, or any other OS that might be found on mainframe equipment such as what's in Sabre (unless they've changed a lot of stuff out) even though it's still no speed slouch re: its processing power. Perhaps an interpreter-type program or ??? but that slows things down considerably by the end of the day and wouldn't be acceptable to IT with a cost taget.

So - the question for E, FWAAA, or anyone else that understands these busy little server gadgets - aside from the obvious issue of cost per reservation/inquiry/browse on another's rented system time (as it will be forever with AMR), what is AMR thinking re: a hosting system for what they want and is this why the recent move to HP as data services provider?

This is in no way intended to be a complaint re: HP's service as they seem to really have their act together - more so than the previous group of ding-a-lings.

 

[eolesen]

The approach they're taking probably could have been done with any of the service providers, be it HP, Amadeus, or Sabre.

I agree that the old TPF (IBM) systems are indeed a dying breed. Amadeus is almost done migrating all of their systems onto Unix & Linux. HP's architecture is yet to be seen. But Sabre is sticking with TPF for some reason...

 

[Frank Szabo]

The approach they're taking probably could have been done with any of the service providers, be it HP, Amadeus, or Sabre.

I agree that the old TPF (IBM) systems are indeed a dying breed. Amadeus is almost done migrating all of their systems onto Unix & Linux. HP's architecture is yet to be seen. But Sabre is sticking with TPF for some reason...

Ah yes - the Transaction Processing Facility software - don't recall where it came from but as I recollect it was a COBOL-based utility, wasn't it? That would make it relatively "people friendly" and great for programmers that liked to type if it was. At any rate, nothing but a big data base/data collection nightmare requiring a "houseful" of people to operate.

The UNIX/Linux OS do seem to be the way to go anymore, Linux especially as numerous incarnations of the OS is free - only its customization to suit might cost some bucks and if I remember, that's what Red Hat does (did?)

Windows has far too much overhead to push to get the same effect as a similar-appearing UNIX based (Linux) system and no built in speed bumps as in Billy Boy's product.

Just wondering ... my "world" was FORTRAN, DYL, and some assembler (even though it drove me to drink and other things).

 

[FWAAA]

AA selects ITA:

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines took another step today in implementing its technology vision and commitment to broad fare availability by expanding its pricing and shopping relationship with ITA Software to include an airline availability engine and customer product selection capability. This effort is the continuance of the company's focus on enhancing its customers' travel experiences by offering products and services that can be customized and distributed through a wide range of distribution channels. The new availability engine will provide inventory, pricing and shopping visibility, and will manage the various product and service choices customers want to consider as they customize their travel experience.

"American has steadily built its relationship with ITA because we align in key areas such as vision, leadership and innovation," said Monte Ford, Senior Vice President, Technology and Chief Information Officer – American Airlines. "The availability engine will serve as a hub for pricing, , shopping and customization of American Airlines products and services. This technology lays the groundwork for the future of travel – with customized travel options as well as access to these options through every channel."

"This decision will usher in a new era of travel options and services for our customers, who are at the center of every decision we make," said Virasb Vahidi, Chief Commercial Officer – American Airlines. "We are focused on the future of travel, including choices for our customers as well as the broad and effective distribution of our products and services through all of our distribution channels – from AA.com to American's reservations, BusinessExtrAA program, Global Distribution Systems, travel search engines, and traditional and online travel agencies for corporate and leisure travelers."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Airlines-Selects-ITA-prnews-1469870410.html?x=0&.v=1

 

[Frank Szabo]

AA selects ITA:



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Airlines-Selects-ITA-prnews-1469870410.html?x=0&.v=1

Question, anyone - why wasn't this all set up and in place before picking a fight with those who sell the tickets?

Not too bright, IMHO.

 

[eolesen]

What makes you think they weren't prepared, Frank? I suspect the contract with ITA has been in work for a while, and possibly slowed down slightly because of Google's proposed acquisition of ITA.

This whole battle really came as no surprise to anyone in the agency or GDS community. AA has been talking actively about shaking things up for at least the past 18 months. What wasn't as public is whose contracts were expiring when, but we've already seen two shoes drop, and a third one hanging in the air...

It's really no different than what's going on with you guys, except that unlike labor under the RLA, supplier/seller contracts allow either side to walk away on the date that they expire.

The more pieces of the puzzle that appear on the board, the more it looks like AA is sly as a fox. Go read PlaneBusiness this week -- Holly had an interesting take on things, as did TheBeat.

 

[FrequentFlierCA]

And again, AA is not the only one jumping on this bandwagon. I suspect that if the folks at DL and UA/CO didn't know this was coming, they started salivating immediately when they heard what AA is doing. The airline industry has incredibly slim margins on the whole, and so shaving off an expense like this would be welcome to any carrier.

AA got the ball rolling, but it's not going to stop until it rolls through Chicago and Atlanta too.

 

[Frank Szabo]

What makes you think they weren't prepared, Frank? I suspect the contract with ITA has been in work for a while, and possibly slowed down slightly because of Google's proposed acquisition of ITA.

This whole battle really came as no surprise to anyone in the agency or GDS community. AA has been talking actively about shaking things up for at least the past 18 months. What wasn't as public is whose contracts were expiring when, but we've already seen two shoes drop, and a third one hanging in the air...

It's really no different than what's going on with you guys, except that unlike labor under the RLA, supplier/seller contracts allow either side to walk away on the date that they expire.

The more pieces of the puzzle that appear on the board, the more it looks like AA is sly as a fox. Go read PlaneBusiness this week -- Holly had an interesting take on things, as did TheBeat.

Everything I've read doesn't imply readiness but evidently this is one of those times I shouldn't believe what I read or only wear my "favorable" glasses and hat when interpeting what I read about AA.

Obviously, you know much more - kindly share the truth with the rabble.

 

[jersey777]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-18/american-says-direct-connect-system-to-be-used-by-priceline-for-fare-data.html?cmpid=yhoo


Take that Sabre! Good for AA!

 

[nbmcg01]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-18/american-says-direct-connect-system-to-be-used-by-priceline-for-fare-data.html?cmpid=yhoo


Take that Sabre! Good for AA!

Bottom line is if this move turns out to be a bad business plan, AA will make nice and all will kiss and make up.

 

[eolesen]

Since I work for a competitor of two of the companies involved in the dispute, I'm a little more tuned into what's going on, but really don't know more than what's been in the trade press (TNooz.com in particular has had good coverage) and what I've observed directly from AA at various trade shows and conferences...

The reason I say AA was better prepared than others are giving credit for is

1) Vegas.Com (and related websites for the same owner) has been using it for several months. That predates all the Orbitz and Expedia nonsense.

2) Priceline just went public about using direct connect yesterday. It's been rumored for about a month that they were close to a deal, and again, this was before the December spat with Orbitz and Expedia.

3) The contract just announced between AA and ITA to provide inventory hosting once AA cuts over to Jetstream. Again, this was not something you can just hammer out in a couple of weeks. I suspect that this was in negotiations for at least a year, given my experience in dealing with purchasing/selling similar products & services.

 

[eolesen]

Bottom line is if this move turns out to be a bad business plan, AA will make nice and all will kiss and make up.

Maybe, but at least one analyst is betting on the airline succeeding, and others following suit.

http://www.tnooz.com/2011/01/18/news/analyst-other-airlines-to-join-american-airlines-in-distribution-fight/

 

[Interested]

I guess this could be filed under this thread.
This statement in the following article caught my eye:
CEO Gerard Arpey declared in a 2010 interview. "Gradually, it will emerge as a successful company that honored its commitments and its pension obligations and that was guided by principles of doing what's right.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10981833/1/american-again-fights-the-good-fight.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

 

[eolesen]

The quote above is more fitting if you look at it in its entirety:

" "Gradually, it will emerge as a successful company that honored its commitments and its pension obligations and that was guided by principles of doing what's right. We take a long-term view. We presume that we'll still be running the company a long time from now and the shareholders with us now will be with us then, and the shareholders will judge (what) we've done for the company and the other constituents."

There are many other airlines (including TWA) who chose 30 pieces of silver in order to improve that quarter/year's balance sheet, versus managing for the long run...

One thing that AMR has remained consistent in thru the years is managing for long term sustainability over short term gain.