ARC said it and American Airlines are working to eliminate duplicate bookings. Work began in February, according to ARC, which said it "is now ready to bring additional carriers onboard in the development process in order to expand the service which is hoped will soon be of industry-wide benefit."
ARC said the tool addresses "duplicate bookings across multiple channels such as carrier-direct and agent bookings in addition to which it also looks at other carrier bookings."
According to a statement from AA managing director of revenue management Rick Elieson, "There are few things more senseless than empty seats. Whether the result of booking error, or conscious manipulation, the ARC duplicate booking identification tool will help AA address a situation that costs our airline huge sums of money and aggravates carriers across the industry."
Duplicate bookings are one of several
ticketing inefficiencies that airlines in recent years have sought to eliminate. AA in February
informed agencies they would be charged $3.50 per segment for "unproductive bookings"--including duplicate bookings--in global distribution systems.
