BEFORE THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

DOCKET NO. OST 2013-0048

____________________________________

AGREEMENT ADOPTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPOR T

ASSOCIATION AS RESOLUTION 787

____________________________________ COMMENTS OF AMADEUS IT GROUP SA Amadeus IT Group SA (“Amadeus”) hereby submits the se comments in response to the March 11, 2013 Application of International Air Tra nsport Association for Approval of Resolution 787. A. About Amadeus Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technolog y solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g., airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators), travel sellers (travel agencies and web sites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies). Amadeus is the large st investor in research and development in Europe in its sector and provides computer reservat ions services to 440 airlines and IT services to more than 100 airlines around the world.- 2 -

Amadeus was invited in May 2012 to participate in a meeting held by IATA in July 2012, where it was informed about the New Distribution Ca pability (“NDC”) initiative sponsored by IATA. While Amadeus has not been involved in IATA’ s decision making process, Amadeus has engaged with IATA, airlines, travel agents and othe r parties to provide constructive feedback on the initiative. Amadeus has expressed, in general, its support for the stated objectives of NDC, such as improving airlines’ ability to differentiat e and merchandise their offer. Amadeus is also supportive of attempts to standardize processes, as discussed below. Indeed, Amadeus has shared its own XML schema with IATA and is increasi ngly involved in the DDX 1 working group. Nevertheless, Amadeus has also pointed out areas where it believes the NDC project faces several challenges. Amadeus therefore offers these comments as an organization committed to helping the airline industry achieve i ts objectives within the framework of commercial, technical and regulatory realities. As a global computer reservation system and technol ogy provider to the world’s airlines (including a large number of IATA members), Amadeus understands the legitimate interest of any airline in using the newest technology and comm unications protocols to display their fares and service offerings. Our company is at the foref ront of enabling airlines to differentiate their product offering and works with many of its airline customers on XML communications protocols of the very type envisioned in Resolution 787, as well as other technology. These efforts have enabled carriers to offer various anci llary services through the travel agency channel. Currently over 15 carriers in 40 countrie s sell seat, bag, meal or other ancillary services through the travel agency channel using Amadeus Anc illary Services solution – either through ATPCO filing, direct loading in Amadeus or XML-API connections. See a description of the

1 DDX is a working group composed of IATA airlines a nd IATA Strategic Partners that documents detailed business requirements and develops implementation guidance f or data exchange standards in the area of airline d istribution. It can provide feedback but it has no decision maki ng power (such power rests with IATA’s airlines onl y).- 3 -

ancillary services offered to airlines through this product at http://www.amadeus.com/airlineit/solutions/sol_2sta nd_8revenues_1services.html The goal of Amadeus’ efforts is that the travel age ncy community can display fare/service offerings as robustly and informativel y as one might find on certain airline websites. These efforts have been underway over a period of y ears and are continuing, as evidenced by Amadeus actively contributing to the implementation of EMD (the IATA standard for ticketing ancillary services in both the direct and indirect channel) and the implementation of Amadeus functionalities that meet several of the differenti ation requirements of NDC (e.g., attribute display and ancillary services catalogue). 2 Exhibit I includes examples of Amadeus’ current capabilities. B. IATA’s Application Amadeus supports the interest of airlines in explor ing different ways to offer their services through the direct or indirect channel. T he market is already moving quickly in the direction of the technology and the standardized co mmunications protocols of the type that IATA seeks to promote and that Amadeus supports. Fo r example, inclusive groups such as Open Travel Alliance and airline groups such as Open Axi s have already developed new standards for use in distributing airline products and services. IATA has recently chosen the latter group’s XML standards for use in NDC. Moreover, as noted ab ove, Amadeus is also at the forefront of developing such technology and communications proto cols. Amadeus has studied IATA’s March 11 Application. IA TA characterizes its Application as a request for approval of an XML schema as an in dustry standard. Amadeus generally supports the standardization of processes as good f or the industry and the public in general.

2 Unfortunately, not all airlines have been willing to allow CRSs and agencies access to display and se ll their ancillary services. That is a commercial decision that many airlines have made and which NDC will not resolve.- 4 -

However, for the reasons provided below, Amadeus be lieves that it is not necessary for the selection or characteristics of a standard that it be embodied in a mandatory IATA resolution 3
that binds most of the world’s airlines. Amadeus al so believes that it is not warranted for the Department to appear to give its approval to one st andard over another. Any IATA agreement on technical XML standards should at most be reflec ted in a recommended practice and not a binding resolution approved by the Department. Amad eus believes that the market should continue to govern the development of standards her e. IATA’s request can also be viewed as going beyond f ormulating common standards and seeking to change the distribution system for the i ndustry. IATA states that “DOT should not ignore the aspirations of IATA’s NDC described in R esolution 787,” which would imply that the request seeks approval for the wider NDC initiative

. 4 Further, several of the IATA members that have submitted comments to DOT supporting Resolutio n 787 make clear that they are doing so because they support NDC as a means of restructurin g the current distribution model. The documents attached to the IATA Application stat e unequivocally that the distribution system envisioned under Resolution 787 is “consider ably different” from the existing model where content is “pushed to systems (e.g., schedule s, fares and availability) and the offer is created without direct involvement of the carriers. ” See Summary of Changes at ¶ 34. Amadeus believes that this view of the existing di stribution model is incorrect because airlines today have full control of their content t hrough the indirect channel; therefore the distribution of “enhanced content” is not precluded by the technological capabilities of the

3 See discussion in Paragraph C.1. regarding the man datory requirement. 4 Particularly in light of the uncertainty over exac tly what IATA is asking DOT to bless, the Departmen t should require IATA to produce all relevant documents in I ATA’s possession regarding the Resolution and NDC.- 5 -

current distribution system. 5 Despite that, IATA is proposing to impose a model and an architecture which go far beyond pure technical sta ndards and which will substantially change the current distribution system. For example, the IATA document attached as Exhibit II, illustrates that the NDC model contemplates that th e flow of information between airline and customer will also be modified to eliminate or at l east reduce the utility of the fare filing warehouses (such as ATPCO) in which information ava ilable to GDSs and others for providing fare quotations is currently stored and made widely available for comparison shopping. A proposed change in the distribution system such a s NDC represents is a matter that the Department should approach with caution. Indeed, n umerous parties have raised questions about the potential impacts of the Resolution. Those ques tions deserve a full airing and careful study by the Department. C. Amadeus’ Specific Concerns With Resolution 787 Amadeus has identified several specific concerns th at warrant DOT consideration. These concerns have in common that they relate to aspects of Resolution 787 that go beyond pure functional or technical requirements necessary to d evelop and establish an industry standard. C.1. Mandatory requirement Although IATA has portrayed the Resolution as not b eing mandatory, a close look shows that the wording expresses a mandate. The fact is that if an airline chooses to distribute “enhanced content,” 6 it must do as the Resolution mandates, that is via IATA’s XML schema and the architecture and solution described in the Resolution. 7 As IATA acknowledges in its

5 In the current model carriers fully control the fa res they load (as frequently as every hour) through ATPCO. They also define their schedule and have tools to dynami cally load any schedule change. Finally, they have the capability to completely control the availability provided thr ough GDSs and adjust it based on numerous parameter s such as Point of Sale or Frequent Flyer tier level. 6 This concept (like others in the Resolution) is no t defined; the term “enhanced content” implies cust omized or itemized content. 7 See the second sentence of the opening paragraph o f Resolution 787 (“Members and/or systems providers shall .”).- 6 -

filing, the provision of “enhanced content” by airl ines is a global trend. Therefore a significant number (if not all) IATA members will eventually ha ve to follow the Resolution (changing their distribution systems accordingly), even if they wou ld otherwise have chosen to distribute enhanced content in an alternative method, using th e current distribution system. As we expressed above, Amadeus is open to the devel opment of standards, but its opinion is that the choice and adoption of standard s should be left to the market and not imposed. If the standard is the most suitable, it will be fo llowed by the market. Interestingly, IATA’s example in its application (VHS vs. Betamax) illust rates that the choice and adoption of a standard should be left to the market to decide. 8 In fact, IATA agrees that the market is already evolving on its own, and it acknowledges that “each of the major GDSs has taken steps” in the direction of providing new solutions for displaying fares and services. Application at 5. A mandatory standard would preclude the further devel opment of other competing and complementary options existing today, or that that will be developed in the future. The Department should therefore ensure that Resolut ion 787 is voluntary. Such a condition is needed in view of the terms of the Res olution, which are mandatory with respect to the distribution practices covered – i.e., see the opening paragraph of Resolution 787 (“Members and/or system providers shall apply the following procedures” when distributing enhanced content). 9 With a non-mandatory condition, the Department wi ll effectively transform Resolution 787 into a recommended practice.

8 In the case of VHS vs. Betamax no industry associa tion sought the blessing of a government agency to advance one standard over another. What happened was that Sony asked Japan’s Ministry of International Trade to support their Betamax standard in the face of a rising chal lenge from the VHS standard. The government minist ry gave their support to the Betamax standard. In the end, howev er, the market chose VHS. 9 Further, the Resolution should of course not bind non-IATA members such as “system providers,” an am biguous term that could include GDSs.- 7 -

C.2. References discouraging backwards compatibilit y should be removed and provisions to enable content comparison should be i ncluded Efficiency dictates that new standards should be ad opted when the market chooses to do so, and that backwards compatibility is necessary t o assure a smooth transition (and competition between a non NDC and an NDC system). However the Resolution strongly discourages airlines from providing “backwards compatibility,” see secti on 1.2.4, stating that “there should be no constraints driven by any requirement for backwards compatibility” and indicating that backwards compatibility is justified “only if there is a defined business need.” These statements may be read as precluding a seamless integration of existing tools and hybrid approaches whereby content comes from NDC or another source fo r one or several carriers. Transparency, which is both highly valued by consum ers and a stated aim in the Resolution, can only be achieved by providing conte nt that can be compared. However, the Resolution does not contemplate how comparison of c ontent between carriers adopting NDC and carriers remaining on current technology could happ en. This could lead to loss of transparency for consumers and airlines. Further, the aim to eliminate backwards compatibili ty does not serve any technical purpose. Instead, it seems to be more a business d ecision aimed to force the abandonment of the existing system in favor of NDC. Additionally, the re is no obvious link between backwards compatibility and the purpose of Resolution 787 to improve the ability of airlines to market enhanced content. For these reasons, references di scouraging “backwards compatibility” in Resolution 787 should be removed and provisions to enable transparent comparison of enhanced content across airlines, irrespective of the connec tivity they choose, should be added.- 8 -

C.3. References to content ownership should be remo ved from the Resolution Section 1.2.7 of Resolution 787 states: “This distr ibution model assumes that each airline distributing its individual products and services i s the owner of its own content.” While that statement might seem innocuous, there is a risk tha t it could create limitations on the usage of data, which currently do not exist, or raise legal concerns like privacy issues. Indeed, several IATA working documents extend the understanding of content ownership to Passenger Name Record (“PNR”) ownership. This concept of content ownership (including PNR ownership) has no functional or technical justification that would promote the stated objectives of the Resolution. 10 It should therefore not be included in an IATA Re solution regarding technical standards. C.4. Resolution 787 raises privacy issues that need to be addressed and appropriate guidance should be provided Resolution 787 provides that persons seeking an air fare offer during the shopping process “shall” be asked to supply “data to identify who is making the request where an intermediary [e.g., a travel agency] is present” and “data to id entify on whose behalf the request is being made” before receiving a customized airfare offer. The data for identifying on whose behalf the request is being made may include items such as “ag e,” “marital status” and “nationality.” Data supplied by passengers will be retained not only by the airline requesting the data, but would be shared between and among IATA members as per sectio n 3.1.1.2 of the Resolution “with due consideration for compliance with government privac y laws.” Currently, there are no applicable DOT regulations governing the use of personal data collected by, or shared among, airlines.

10 Notably, while Amadeus today provides XML-API conn ectivity for carriers such as Easyjet, Transavia an d Air Asia, it does so without changing the way PNR data is handled compared with the way it is handled with any other carrier using an EDIFACT connectivity or push model

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The request for personal information of the sort de scribed in Resolution 787 raises numerous and complex questions about the usage and sharing of such personal information which affect virtually all the stakeholders in the travel distribution chain. Accordingly, appropriate rules and guidance should be adopted. D. Conclusion
1. Amadeus is supportive of improving airlines’ abilit y to differentiate and merchandise their offer.
2. Amadeus is supportive of technical XML standards in sofar as they are not mandatory (either in their adoption or in their dev elopment).
3. Regarding Resolution 787, numerous parties have rai sed several issues that require study and clarification. In that respect, A madeus considers that, IATA should be required to change it as follows:

a. The Resolution should be entirely non-binding and v oluntary. b. References discouraging backwards compatibility sho uld be removed and provisions to enable content comparison should be i ncluded.

c. References to content ownership should be removed f rom the Resolution. d. Privacy issues should be clarified.
Respectfully, Amadeus IT Group, S.A.

Svend O. Leirvaag VP Industry Affairs- 10 - Exhibit I – Examples of Amadeus current capabilitie s© 2012 Amadeus IT Group SAAirline Ancillary Services (i)1Airline Ancillary Services integration in travel agents workflow enables airlines tomerchandise their unique service offer with a dynamic catalogue. Integration within booking,pricing and issuance steps make it easy for agentsto adopt this new content and upsellairline's services.A dynamic catalogue shows airlines specific products andprices based on the PNR and passenger information.Information on the services booked and paid bycustomers is integrated into the PNR- 12 - © 2012 Amadeus IT Group SAAirline Ancillary Services (ii)- 13 - © 2012 Amadeus IT Group SAFlight FeaturesAmadeus Flight Features is an excellent marketing tool to provide targeted service information totravel agents and differentiate airlines’ offeringfrom the competition. Highlight the unique servicesand travel experience offered with pictures and text at the precise time when travelers choose theirairline.Promote more than schedules & prices.Target advertising based on flight criteria,agent preferences and location to:Differentiatefrom the competitionIncreasecustomerservice and loyaltyTargetselected travel agents in real timeor on a worldwide basisAvailable in:Air Availability pagesGraphical low fare search for offline TAs120 x 90 (image)160 characters max(explanatory text)- 14 - © 2012 Amadeus IT Group SAMerchandisingPersonalisation in the GDSPricing according to Frequent FlyerstatusAncillary services content & pricevaries based on passenger typecode and frequent flyer tierThe example shows AncillaryServices in Amadeus SellingPlatform (travel agency bookingplatform)4Airline Ancillary ServicesCorporate deals reflected inFares / ancillary servicesshown automatically tailoredaccording to bilateralagreements between TMC /corporationThe example shows AncillaryServices in Amadeus eTravel Management (used bybusiness travellers to booktheir work-related travel)Exhibit II – IATA document- 16 -- 17 -