Sabre-Amadeus: Is anybody bothered?

There has been a lot of words printed about how carriers are extremely nervous about the pact between Global Distribution System (GDS) providers Sabre Travel Network and Amadeus on backing each other up with airline fares in the event of an airline pulling its content from one or the other.

US carriers like American and Northwest Airlines, to name but two, have expressed their concerns. They are worried it might affect their leverage in pricing and content negotiations with the GDS in attempts to wrestle down high distribution costs. It was an issue that came to prominence at the recent Airline Distribution event organised by Airline Business and corporate credit card provider UATP in Dublin in late March.

In a recent conference call with journalists, Airline Business asked Richard Adams, Sabre Travel Network's senior vice-president Europe what reaction he has had about the so-called insurance pact from his customer base. His reply was candid: "Honestly, I have had nobody call me about it. This seems to suggest there is not some serious reaction at all."

So, is this a storm in tea-cup about an eventuality that could never happen, or a more sinister collaboration between rivals that airlines have good reason to be concerned about? We will continue probing.