Southwest Airlines Expands Booking Access and Content in the GDS to Reach More Business Travelers - 2 views

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  #1 hankunli on 04 Jun 20

   

  https://skift.com/2020/05/19/southwest-airlines-expands-corporate-booking-gds-reach-more-business-travelers/

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner"><a href="https://skift.com/2020/05/19/southwest-airlines-expands-corporate-booking-gds-reach-more-business-travelers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://skift.com/2020/05/19/southwest-airlines-expands-corporate-booking-gds-reach-more-business-travelers/</a></div>

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  #2 hankunli on 04 Jun 20

   

  Summary: This article by Southwest Airlines （SWA for short） and Skift has some vital points to know. First, SWA has improved its cooperation with GDS companies to an "industry-standard level" instead of at a "basic booking level." It also can be viewed as a relief to SWA's customers since the new method made reservation and cancellation easier. This move to the GDS will also impact bookings made on the airline's direct corporate booking tool, SWABIZ, but a manager in SWA expressed a feeling of "not too concerned about business moving from one channel to another".
  
  Second, improved cooperation with GDS does not mean that SWA is going to make direct booking method less important. On the contrary, they are also improving their corporate booking channel SWABIZ, as it now offers the ability to book cars and hotel rooms, displays day of travel contact information, and features stronger reporting functions for travel managers. The carrier plans to add more functionality in the coming months.
  
  Third, as for the COVID-19 pandemic, its improvements in GDS is beneficial, especially to business customers. They were receiving customer feedbacks for deeper cooperation with GDS, and especially during the pandemic, these improvements can be "in a strong position when a recovery begins" and help business customers in cost-saving. Travel managers can also benefit from this change since they will "perform the booking in a standard workflow" and " have complete control of the booking".
  
  SWA is also participating with ATPCO's NDC Exchange and Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) to make more improvements in the future. In sum, Southwest has "put itself on solid footing to be ready when the clouds start to part".

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Summary: This article by Southwest Airlines （SWA for short） and Skift has some vital points to know. First, SWA has improved its cooperation with GDS companies to an "industry-standard level" instead of at a "basic booking level." It also can be viewed as a relief to SWA's customers since the new method made reservation and cancellation easier. This move to the GDS will also impact bookings made on the airline's direct corporate booking tool, SWABIZ, but a manager in SWA expressed a feeling of "not too concerned about business moving from one channel to another". <br /> <br /> Second, improved cooperation with GDS does not mean that SWA is going to make direct booking method less important. On the contrary, they are also improving their corporate booking channel SWABIZ, as it now offers the ability to book cars and hotel rooms, displays day of travel contact information, and features stronger reporting functions for travel managers. The carrier plans to add more functionality in the coming months. <br /> <br /> Third, as for the COVID-19 pandemic, its improvements in GDS is beneficial, especially to business customers. They were receiving customer feedbacks for deeper cooperation with GDS, and especially during the pandemic, these improvements can be "in a strong position when a recovery begins" and help business customers in cost-saving. Travel managers can also benefit from this change since they will "perform the booking in a standard workflow" and " have complete control of the booking". <br /> <br /> SWA is also participating with ATPCO's NDC Exchange and Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) to make more improvements in the future. In sum, Southwest has "put itself on solid footing to be ready when the clouds start to part".</div>

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