Delta Air Lines yesterday began auditing "all GDS user transactions to identify booking policy violations," according to the carrier's Online Agency Service Center. Violators would be charged $3.50 per net passenger segment or a $50 fee, "depending on the nature of the violation."
Violations include inactive segments; passives segments; duplicate, fraudulent, fictitious or speculative bookings; invalid name changes; and "churning."
Delta's announcement follows similar warnings by
American Airlines and others. Delta said, "The continued booking of Delta air transportation services and products will be deemed to constitute each GDS user’s acceptance of and agreement to these new terms and conditions." It will use ARC Payment Express "or current debit memo process to recoup the fees associated with booking policy violations."
In an alert to members, the American Society of Travel Agents noted that Delta follows United Airlines in using "ARC's powers to automatically draft carrier-imposed fees from travel agents' ARC checking account." ASTA opposes such a development, saying that "ARC lacks authority to withdraw funds on behalf of individual airlines under 'unilaterally imposed' contacts from an agents' ARC account which was created for the sole purpose of settling the agent's ARC report."
