Knowledge Series by Abacus

The importance of uploading ethic

While technology by itself is faceless, it is developed and run by humans and therefore does not escape the hanging fire of ethics which, as Bhisham Mansukhani and Vyas Sivanand realise, is a question GDS companies are deeply concerned about

The brace and rise of technology as an interface in the travel trade has been welcomed by most as a departure from the manually crippling days of rummaging through airline schedule tomes and expending on zillion phone calls for information. Then there are some sardonics who view it as akin to the proliferation of profit without responsibility. Neither of the opinions is a balanced view of the technological revolution that has transformed the travel landscape. While technology has automated processing by and large and provided easy access to vast amount of data, the risk of abuse has overhung its benefits for far too long. The fact that this risk could snowball into a detrimental threat is now galvanising GDS companies, albeit independently, to find a solution that is more effective than the current monitoring tools deployed to curb malpractices.

Problem & effect

The slew of abuse of the system, by certain deviant agents, is best summed by one who is not part of their infamous clique. Bangalore-based Yogesh Diman, destination specialist, Sim-Ventura Tours says, "Passive bookings or ‘Passives’ in agent argot, are a common nightmare to airlines. It occurs when a booking record is created purely as a way of issuing a ticket for a booking that has already been made elsewhere without a ticket being issued. For example, a passenger may book a ticket directly with an airline but not be issued with a ticket. If that passenger then asks a travel agent to issue them with a ticket, the agent uses a passive booking to produce the ticket. Airlines will receive a GDS or CRS charge for passives. This charge can easily amount to a sizeable sum if passives are used frequently." Repeated cancelling and rebooking of space is often done to evade ticketing time limits of the fare rule. Participating in this activity in turn handicaps several other agencies that are in fact adhering to the rules, preventing them from selling available space and ultimately blocks seats from all their customers. Creating a fictitious reservation, passive or active, for any reason, including training purposes or to meet GDS productivity targets are followed widely in the country because of the unlimited access of GDS to numerous travel agents, be they accredited or otherwise. Some passengers are even given more than one reservation for travel on or about the same date to one or more destinations!

Making reservations for a passenger when one already exists is another major concern. The issue is broad-based and most unerring agents feel that the GDS cannot do it alone towards a lasting solution and needs to engage the agent and airline community.

K Chalapathi, manager, World-O-Main Enterprises, Mangalore, adds, "Malpractices lead to no-shows and late cancellations. Revenue Management data becomes unreliable. Revenue is lost when pricing structure rules are not adhered to. Costs increase due to meal wastage from the no-shows and the additional distribution costs from bookings that incur a GDS charge but do not produce a real passenger. And finally, real customers experience lower seat availability as fictitious bookings prevent real bookings being made. It is important to take a holistic approach and consider both revenue management and revenue integrity.”

Viiveck Verma, managing director, Abacus India, agrees, "Passive bookings are a problem and GDS companies are mindful of it. On our part, we have an effective MIS that monitors agents using the system. We are well aware of the spread of our agent network and closely watch and record patterns to establish what is general as opposed to an unusual situation. For instance, if an agent who has never booked certain segments makes block bookings on the segment in a single day or makes block bookings on a segment that Indian passengers rarely ever travel, we inform the respective airline. Of course, there are several and more complex parameters that the MIS system uses to track agent booking patterns."

Raja Natesan, president and CEO, Galileo India, comments, "At Galileo we take a very serious approach to agencies found abusing the system as we believe this is detrimental towards the interest of our airline partners. Galileo International has mechanisms to spot system abuse and the moment this is notified to us we send a warning to the agency. If the agency still continues the abuse then we in conjunction with the concerned airline can restrict the ability of the agency to book on that particular airline or if need be we would even disconnect the agency from our network."

Higher culture

The unanimity against tolerance of malpractice needs only an effective solution, which although is being currently pursued at an organisational level, observers feel, it requires a more pervasively integrated approach. Rajanarayana Gowda, proprietor, Travel-Itch, sheds light on potential solutions, proferring, "Duplicate bookings, dual automation, fictitious booking, etc, are affecting the already suffering travel agents. A comprehensive revenue integrity programme is the only real way to rectify the revenue leakage caused by these problems. World over, this programme is recognised to be the best working solution. In the US, an airline uses a module called Journey Control, which eliminates point-to-point bookings when more than one flight is necessary to get the passenger to his final destination. Creating a reservation that includes connections is booked from schedules or availability display that includes the passenger's complete origin and destination (O&D)."

Chalapathi agrees, "Traditional revenue or yield management maximises revenue in the pre-booking period. However, this represents a very limited part of the total revenue opportunity. When a booking is made, there is no guarantee it will be used and even if it is used it is very likely to get changed along the way. Revenue disappears with problems such as duplicate bookings and unticketed bookings, multiple bookings and name changes. A complete revenue programme is necessary."

Says Verma, "There is a need not only to come together but firstly for each one involved in the transaction loop to accept collective responsibility. For instance, as a GDS, my incumbency extends only towards facilitating a booking, not checking its veracity. Yet, we do all we can within our limits to protect the airlines and genuine agents from mal-practicing agents. About five airlines that I have spoken to, have been positive but there needs to be a larger movement in place and everyone needs to be on the same page."

Natesan adds, "Galileo has been focused on creating awareness about correct booking practices to ensure error free bookings for some time now. We enable the airline to reject the passive segments to all airlines which participate in the 'Passive Segment Notification' with Galileo. However, Galileo is open and more than happy to sit and discuss with any travel association or body and formulate a general code for the same."

Verma, however, believes that Internet policing can only do so much. "Monitoring online activity would amount to confronting the problem in a slightly disconnected manner. While online monitoring is the key, what's needed is widespread understanding that there are long term benefits to be had as a consequence of a clean and transparent environment, one which is sustainable. The concept of revenue opportunity needs to be perceived in the collective and not individual perspective. Ethics cannot be a personal choice anymore. It has to be a culture and those that do not embrace it need to be isolated and this needs to be an industrial rather than an organisational decision. A code of conduct would certainly be desirable, backed by an IATA resolution, although in the absence of one right now, IATA has been commendably supportive," says Verma. As with any business, a certain level of malaise is almost accepted by default. The level of it is one that the respective vertical needs to set for itself and in this case, since the GDS does not operate in isolation, as their business is inextricably intertwined with that of the airline and the agent, a tripartite decision to recognise the inverse relation between ethic and malpractice appears overdue for an upload.

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