Speaking at the Capa World Aviation Summit 2015 in Helsinki, Ryanair chief commercial officer David O’Brien said the airline already got few bookings via GDSs and was instead focused on driving traffic to its own website.
 
And while he added rival airlines could soon start featuring each other’s prices on their websites, he believes third party sales teams face a bleak future.
 
“Their role in the future will be zero,” he said. “The idea of showing other airlines’ fares on your website has been scoffed at, but there are some meaningful discussions now.”
 
Instead, O’Brien said Ryanair could become the Uber or Airbnb of car hire and other aspects of a person’s trip by offering them the right product at the right time, thanks to the fact that most consumers now travel with a smart phone to hand.
 
He added: “The best bit is you are in perpetual contact with them, if you secure the booking you can own people and break into a conversation during their trip.”
 
O’Brien also said if the strategy was to prove successful, it would need to be more targeted than it had been in the past.
 
“One mistake we did was to try and do everything at the same time in a Marrakesh bazaar type way,” he added.
 
However, Travelport global head of product and marketing, air commerce, Ian Heywood argued agents will prove pivotal in the future as they are better able to match the needs of consumers to the product airlines offer.
 
This was particularly pertinent to legacy airlines whose large structures mean they are often slower to meet the quickly changing demands of the market.
 
Heywood said: “We do need the agents in this environment and they’re really key.
 
“I worry about agents and the future of the agent, not just the technology, it is the customer not their role.
 
“What will become of the agents online or in the call centres? You talk to some of the young travellers and they wonder why they are phoning up a call centre and staying on the phone for 30 minutes.
 
“They (travel agents) are still around but I don’t know if they are showing the same leadership in change as some of the rest of the industry is.
 
“I’m not saying there isn’t a role for the travel agent at all, what I’m saying is in the rest of the industry there is an awareness to stay with it and where is the natural leadership?
 
“There is more leadership and direction with the leisure industry than perhaps with the traditional (TMCs).”
 
He also argued technology could prove to be the saviour for agents, providing airlines use it to connect with the market and personalise their transactions accordingly.
 
“When you distribute through an API… there’s nothing to stop the airline saying you’re a supportive agent, here’s a special fare.
 
“That’ll happen more in the leisure market than in the corporate market.”

It’s hardly surprising to see how the battle lines are being drawn, but Heywood’s point that someone must show the agents the way forward is important. Who’s going to step up to the mark?