Travel Weekly – August 2019 – Shane Chapman, Ovation's Senior Vice President of Airline Industry Relations, shares his thoughts on Southwest's pending move into the Travelport and Amadeus Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) with Travel Weekly. Chapman said he does not expect the move to create a ripple effect within the agent channel.
"The perception is that Southwest is the lowest-cost carrier, but in our experience, there are many instances where, in a large amount of markets, the Big Three [American, Delta and United] are very competitive," said Chapman, whose agency works mainly with Sabre. "In some instances, we have found lower fares on the Big Three carriers. I don't believe we will see an increase in competition, since they are already competing in the marketplace."
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