I have always been fascinated by the apparent cloak of "superior technology" that the GDS companies have wrapped themselves in.
The GNEs when they arrived on the scene also told the same story - superior technology. The idea being to follow the model that Technology was the answer and that only technology from the GDS would address the needs of both the supply chain and the distribution system.
Over time this has increasingly not been the case. So now we are at version 2.0. Enter Multicom in the UK. The first player to overtly espouse the Non-GDS Technology based distribution system. EasyJet is the first Carrier to adopt it - because they own their own Reservation System. They have created a multi-channel distribution system without the same (full) cost models of the GDS. There are MANY other solutions out there that already do this. Some are pure API/XML link/Web Services based solutions. OpenJaw Technologies in Dublin for example was an early proponent of this solution set. The airlines res systems also have had this capability for some time but the cost model didn't work because it was tied to a GDS type cost structure.
We are waiting for a pure version - call it V2.5. In our scenario (actually now technically feasible and deliverable) a front end engine manages the channel services and you have a pure system without resorting to other external systems for connectivity or uber monitors. Built into the reservations environment.
Interested? Contact us for more information.
Cheers
Timothy
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