Amadeus says IATA's NDC has 'wasted time and energy'

Amadeus vice president industry affairs Svend Leirvaag, speaking at the CAPA World Aviation Summit 2015, said (07-Oct-2015) IATA's new distribution capability (NDC) has "wasted time and energy" and "derailed" industry discussion. He said: "IATA has wasted so much money trying to propagandise NDC, and I'm tired of it. We've wasted so much time and energy on this. It's time to demystify NDC. Will NDC be a panacea for rich content? No. We leapfrogged IATA standards 10 years ago. This is not about technology. The [NDC] technology standard will not give you content and functionality or transparency and the ability to compare. We [the GDSs] are way ahead of the NDC project." He added: "NDC has derailed industry discussion. It's ill conceived. It has not contributed to the efficiency of the industry. IATA has said it made a mistake [in the way it introduced NDC]. There are so many bottlenecks operationally and commercially, but not technically." However, Mr Leirvaag noted: "We support a collaborative approach on how to take the industry forward."