旅游生意:中间商难以出局_BEC初级作文

旅游生意:中间商难以出局

IATA hopes to have its new technical standards agreed by the end of the year-though as a rule, getting airlines to agree on such things is tricky. Then there would be the problem of implementation; the industry, like every other, has seen ambitious IT projects fail disastrously. Suppose that IATA does persuade hundreds of airlines to agree on the new technical standards, and successfully build computer systems that run on them. Even then, admits Gary Doernhoefer, an IATA official, the GDSs' grip on the industry may not change much without regulatory action to unpick their cosy agreements with travel agents.

国际航空运输协会希望今年底可以通过新的技术标准。尽管这是条规则，但想获得航空公司的同意却有些棘手。随后还要面临着实施这条规则的问题：航空行业和其他行业一样，都曾经历过大型IT项目惨败的结局。假设国际航空运输协会说服了数百家航空公司同意新的技术标准，并成功地建立了运行的电脑系统。即使这样，如若不消除航空公司和旅行社之间联系紧密的协议, 全球分销系统对整个行业的控制可能也不会发生太大的变化，国际航空运输协会官员加里承认道。

Regulators are indeed looking into the issue. An investigation into the GDSs by America's Department of Justice is quietly ticking over, and the European Commission is reviewing its code of conduct for them. Meanwhile, two of America's big carriers have taken GDSs to court over the tactics they use to maintain their hold over travel agents. American Airlines' case against Sabre is due to begin in a Texas state court in October. AA has also filed suits in federal courts against Sabre and Travelport (which owns Galileo and Worldspan and part-owns Orbitz, an online travel agency), as has US Airways against Sabre.