ATPCO, the airline-owned corporation that collects and
distributes fare data, has won a patent for technology that enables airlines to see
their competitors' pricing in greater detail.
The technology is in a product called Marketview, which lets
airlines see prices in all 26 fare classes that competing airlines have
filed for their routes, even if those fare classes aren't up for sale at that
moment.
Under the legacy technology established after deregulation
in 1978, airlines can create 26 fare classes, one for each letter of the
alphabet. Airlines assign prices and restrictions to each fare class and then
file those classes with ATPCO. However, revenue-management teams don't typically make each
of the 26 fare classes available for sale at a given time. Instead, airlines
manage inventory and pricing by releasing certain fare classes depending upon
the booking progress of a flight.
Marketview allows revenue-management teams to see the total
price of each fare filing, including taxes, fees and surcharges. They can also
see the restrictions that other carriers have put on their fares. If they choose, airlines can deconstruct
those fares, so that they see the base fare and the various components
separately.
Previously, carriers could only see base fares as they mined
ATPCO data, said ATPCO vice president of technology John Murphy.
Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere
Research Group, said the new technology could help airline pricing departments
be smarter and more effective.
As far as its impact on consumers, he said that will be less
obvious. In some cases, airline pricing departments will use the extra
information to lower fares or offer promotions. In other cases, they will use it
to increase fares.
"There will be benefits if it means airlines are able
to price in a more intelligent or more thoughtful manner," Harteveldt
said.
The new data availability could also inform airlines as they
move increasingly toward real-time dynamic pricing, in which prices are changed
throughout the day rather than in less frequent increments, and personalized
pricing, in which fare offers -- especially bundled offerings -- are tailored
to the specific individual doing a ticket search.
At present, Marketview doesn't include ancillary fees in its
price displays, but Murphy said that capability will be added next year.