Ai Editorial: Assessing changes with the implementation of NDC and One Order

First Published on 1st October, 2018

 

Ai Editorial: Airlines are looking into embracing Offer and Order Management systems, using NDC as the distribution protocol, and creating the One Order standard. What changes all of this would bring as far as databases or fulfillment is concerned, probes Ai’s Ritesh Gupta

 

 

 

Airlines are keen on extending their reach outside their own sales infrastructure with the same set of capabilities that they can do internally. They are gearing up for an offer management system that can consider all the data points, worked around analysis and business rules, assess availability and applicability, bundle the offer items, compute  pricing, and present it along with branding and rich media to travellers.   

 

Also, a mechanism is being worked out to modify the accepted offers into orders.

 

There is a need to transition into an order management system for fulfillment and accounting. 

 

“(Today) booking information is contained in a PNR. Payment, entitlement and status information are contained in E-Tickets and EMDs. Databases are linked but not the same,” said Ian Tunnacliffe, Owner at IFT Consulting.

 

 

Airlines have different mechanism for tracking the same transaction: the PNR (the order, used for operations and fulfillment) and the electronic ticket (a confirmation of the payment mechanism).

 

One Order combines the PNR data information with the E-ticket and the EMD information into one single record.

 

As envisioned by IATA, One Order will result in the gradual disappearance of multiple reservation records as well as e-ticket/EMD concepts to be replaced by a single reference travel document. A new standardized and expandable reference will become the single access point for customer orders by third parties (interline partners, distribution channels, ground handling agents and airport staff, among others).

 

Tunnacliffe, who is scheduled to speak at the upcoming Mega Event Worldwide, to be held in Long Beach, California, explained: 

  • In the NDC environment, booking information is contained in an Order. Payment, entitlement and status information are still contained in E-Tickets and EMDs. 
  • In the One Order environment, all information is contained in a single order.

 

As we explained in one of our previous articles, in the Order structure, there are no limitations that are present with electronic documents.  For example, looking within the framework of the offer, and thus the order as well, there are not requirements for a RBD, fare basis, issuance code, service category, or even a rule. Those can be populated, which is useful for the transition period where the legacy ticketing and reservations systems need to remain, but they are optional, providing the flexibility within the design of the standard to allow airlines to sell whatever they want to sell. What this means then:

 

  • Revenue management can be truly dynamic by determining an offer price based on business goals, unrestricted by available RBDs or filed fares.  
  • Merchandizing becomes a core role of the airline, not just an ancillary function.  
  • Travel changes and refundability can now be offered as dynamically offered ancillary products and be applied to any journey at a variable price, instead of having to rely on the filled fare rules.

 

 

Hear from senior industry executives about NDC and ONE Order at the upcoming Mega Event Worldwide (Ancillary, Loyalty & Co-Brand Conferences) to be held in Long Beach, California (31st October – 2nd November, 2018).