TORONTO — Air Canada’s Lisa Pierce, VP Global Sales & ACV, tells Travelweek that the next phase of the airline’s NDC initiative rolled out on schedule yesterday, June 14.

First announced in April, Air Canada’s best available seat inventory and discounted ancillary pricing is now available via NDC, joining fare content already available including the carrier’s domestic Basic fares.

Air Canada’s Keith Wallis, Sr. Director, Distribution & Payments; Lisa Pierce, VP Global Sales & ACV; Mark Nasr, SVP Products, Marketing & eCommerce, April 18, 2023

Yesterday also marked the launch of Air Canada’s new NDC coupon incentive, to support travel agency transition to NDC – and away from GDS EDIFACT channels. The Distribution Cost Recovery (DCR) fee for all tickets issued globally via GDS EDIFACT channels kicked in as scheduled too.

Travelweek connected with several retail travel execs yesterday to get their feedback on the retail travel industry’s readiness for Air Canada’s NDC next-phase; click here for that story and also for registration links for ACTA’s upcoming NDC webinars with Air Canada and Amadeus. A complete look at the April trade press conference can be found here.

Travelweek also asked Pierce if Air Canada is confident that its agency partners are ready.

“Since our announcement we have had significant engagement with our agency partners to prepare them for the launch to ensure that they can make informed decisions regarding their unique NDC journey,” says Pierce.

“Since the initial announcement in April, we’ve also been busy supporting our agency partners with the transition to this new technology, including conducting nine webinars for our partners across North America, Latin America, EMEAI and Asia-Pacific. We also continue to be available every step of the way with 13 NDC workshops and two joint Air Canada-ACTA webinars scheduled for the coming weeks, coinciding with the launch of our first market,” she added.