Direct Connect By Google – Oh Yes

It’s a simple formula. Google Flight Search + Airlines’ Hunger for Direct Connect = Trouble for GDSs.

You may think Google Flight Search is just another meta search tool.  I think it is a major step in a campaign to build direct connections between airlines and travelers. Google Flight Search is GDS Bypass personified.

Google sees the GDSs as fortresses, producing hundreds of millions of captive airline searches beyond the reach of any search engine. Searches that need to be freed. Searches that should have the right to be completed directly with the supplier. Searches that in their basic form can be served up quite nicely with Google Flight Search.

But the campaign is far from over.  Airline products are

Innovative Boarding Method Could Save Big Bucks

Who says that innovation requires fancy new technology?  Jason Steffen, an astrophysicist, figured out a much faster way for passengers to board an airplane.  OK, so he did use a computer to model the problem, but the solution is elegantly simple.

Have a look at this demo in a 72-seat fuselage:

This article reports his modeling showed that even random boarding is faster than block boarding, something Southwest figured out a long time ago. Mr. Steffen estimates that his faster method of boarding could save a carrier more than $100 million a year, presumably from more efficient use of aircraft and less ground and crew time.

Hat tip to Frank Schnur for noting this on his LinkedIn page.