Delta Air Lines and Sabre have announced a new global distribution agreement that will evolve their long-standing partnership and drive change in the travel industry through commercial and technological innovation.
“Our vision is to shift the mindset of the entire ecosystem toward modern retailing, selling customers what they want, where they want it and how they want it across all channels,” said Jeff Lobl, managing director of global distribution for Delta Air Lines. “We are grateful to Sabre for their innovative and pioneering spirit in taking this journey with Delta and establishing a new and exciting path forward for third-party distribution.”
Aligning the interests of the global travel marketplace, the companies expect the innovative distribution agreement to transform the way travel partners do business and ensures Sabre-connected travel buyers will continue to have access to Delta’s content globally while enabling Delta to continue to extend its reach with Sabre’s valuable network of global travel buyers.
“Sabre is on a journey to create a new marketplace for personalized travel. Technology innovation combined with collaborative partnerships are key to realizing our vision,” said Wade Jones, chief product officer of Sabre Travel Solutions. “This new agreement is one example of that partnership philosophy, and our innovation to transform our storefront experience reinforces this by ensuring Delta and Sabre’s mutual customers can shop with confidence and see the value of the offerings available to them.”
The New Airline Storefront, developed by Sabre in collaboration with Delta, CWT and other partners, is now fully available in Sabre Red 360 and provides digital “shelves” that better organize an airline’s offerings in a side-by-side display to enhance the traveller’s shopping experience.
“Sabre’s new airline storefront and rich content makes it easier to understand new airline product offerings and simplifies the purchasing decision. CWT is a strong supporter of a collaborative approach to address an improved user experience for our counsellors; equating to a better trip planning experience for the traveller,” said Erik Magnuson, vice president – product management, mobility & payments of CWT. “We see the storefront as another big step in providing the best value and personalization our customers demand.”
“We are excited about this agreement and expect the underlying innovation to simplify the booking process and significantly improve the experience for our travellers,” said Rita Visser, Director, Global Travel Sourcing & GPO, Oracle.