GDS Interest in ITA and G2?

In an article in Travel Weekly US yesterday, Technology Editor Dennis Schaal said he could imagine ITA Software becoming a Sabre Holdings company, or G2 SwitchWorks emerging as a Cendant ‘tuck-in acquisition’, as the Galileo owners label their smaller buy

Published: 28 Feb 2005

In an article in Travel Weekly US yesterday, Technology Editor Dennis Schaal said he could imagine ITA Software becoming a Sabre Holdings company, or G2 SwitchWorks emerging as a Cendant ‘tuck-in acquisition’, as the Galileo owners label their smaller buy

The article comes as ITA and G2 Switchworks strive to officially launch their alternate distribution systems, a move that Orbitz is attempting to block.

Schaal believes that in the next few months, the GDS companies will be examining G2 SwitchWorks and ITA to see if the upstart distributors deliver on promises of rock-bottom booking fees and agency functionality.

“Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan and Amadeus, which in the bad old days of distribution could sit back and raise suppliers’ booking fees in an annual rite of winter, clearly are mapping strategies to counter the new entrants and may consider acquisitions,” Schaal contends.

He adds that with the GDS companies’ core revenue streams facing bothersome dams downstream, this may be a classic case of buy-rather-than-build.

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