In Offer-Order-Settle-Deliver (OOSD), there is a lot of focus on Offers, Orders and Settlement, but if you do not get Delivery right, you will lose out on the opportunities of OOSD.
OOSD has been building momentum, with the NDC schema and ONE Order providing the framework for building offers, converting those offers into serviceable orders, and then settling them. However, Delivery still lacks a robust framework.
Some industry experts imagine Delivery as a small app that runs off the Order Management System. Others believe a comprehensive framework for Delivery could take five to ten years to fully develop in the OOSD world. For OOSD to be a success, Delivery needs to be implemented much sooner and become an integral part of the process quickly. Without a well-defined Delivery component, opportunities for retailing and integration with an increasingly complex supply chain will be missed.
A host of airlines already use NDC, such as Iberia, United Airlines, Kenya Airways, All Nippon Air (ANA), and China Eastern Airlines. Many software vendors have started getting involved with the Offer and, more recently, the Order side. Many strategists dream of becoming a digital-first airline, with the profits of low-cost carriers being the goal of even the biggest flagship airlines. However, with Delivery, there is still a large gap. Travel-in-Motion suggested that we may need to wait until 2035 for full implementation. However, Delivery is going to be a key element of the successful adoption of OOSD.
For OOSD to succeed, the travel experience must be connected, and the delivery aspect is crucial to achieving this. The airline industry already faces complexities in managing simple air and ground ancillaries. OOSD will enable more complex ancillaries and a great variety of them. The method of delivering these ancillaries will be instrumental to OOSD's success.
If legacy EDIFACT and TypeB messaging continue, and control over bag allowances and seat selection remains with the DCS during the operational window, the retailing opportunities available in the booking process will be difficult to provision during Delivery. Currently, when the retailing system (usually a Passenger Service System (PSS)) hands over control of seats, bags, and other ancillaries to the DCS, retailing opportunities are limited because a DCS is designed primarily for boarding passengers, not for retailing. However, in the OOSD world, where the Offer/Order management system can maintain control of retailing through the operational window, these retailing opportunities remain accessible. Keeping the old systems in place will hinder the ability to upsell and cross-sell ancillaries during Delivery.
Ink's R&D team has been busy tackling some of the key problems with Delivery after having processed 1.2m IATA ONE Orders for one of its past customers. We have been having conversations about how interline and codeshare work in an Offer-Order world, completely removing operational windows and pre- and post-flight interaction with suppliers, and reengineering customer facilitation.
To join us in defining Delivery, reach out at info@innovation.ink.
Ben Waymark
Technical Product Manager
Ink Innovation
