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A computer reservations system, or CRS, is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, they were later extended to travel agents as a sales channel; major CRS operations are also known as Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies, and many systems are now accessible to consumers through Internet gateways for hotel, rental cars, and other services as well as airline tickets.
For other systems, see List of global distribution systems.
Today, each system allows an operator to locate and reserve inventory (for instance, an airline seat on a particular route at a particular time), find and process fares/prices applicable to the inventory, generate tickets and travel documents, and generate reports on the transactions for accounting or marketing purposes.
History
In the early days of commercial aviation, passengers were relatively few and each airline's routes and fares were tightly regulated, in the United States by the Civil Aeronatics Board after 1940. These were published in a volume entitled the Official Airline Guide, from which travel agents or consumers could construct an itinerary, then call or telex airline agents who would mark the reservation on a card and file it. As the demand for and complexity of air travel expanded, however, this process soon became onerous and costly.
In 1953, American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith chanced to sit next to R. Blair Smith, a senior IBM sales representative. Their idea of an automated airline reservation system (ARS) resulted in a 1959 venture known as the Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment, or SABRE, launched the following year. By the time the network was completed in 1964, it was the largest non-governmental data processing system in the world.
Other airlines soon established their own systems. Delta Air Lines launched its DATAS internal ARS in 1968. United Airlines and TWA followed in 1971 with Apollo and PARS respectively. Soon, travel agents began pushing for a system that could automate their side of the process by accessing the various ARSs directly to make reservations. Fearful this would place too much power in the hands of agents, American Airlines executive Robert Crandall proposed creating an industry-wide Computer Reservations System to be a central clearinghouse for US travel; other airlines demurred, citing fear of antitrust prosecution.
In 1976, United began offering its Apollo system to travel agents; while it would allow the agents to book tickets on United's competitors, the marketing value of the convenient terminal proved indispensable. SABRE, PARS, and DATAS were soon released to travel agents as well. Following airline deregulation in 1978, an efficient CRS proved particularly important; by some counts, Texas Air executive Frank Lorenzo purchased money-losing Eastern Airlines specifically to gain control of its SystemOne CRS.
European airlines also began to invest in the field in the 1980s, propelled by growth in demand for travel as well as technological advances which allowed the GDS to offer ever-increasing services and searching power. In 1987, a consortium led by Air France and West Germany's Lufthansa developed Amadeus, modeled on Eastern's SystemOne. In 1990, Delta, Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines formed Worldspan, and in 1993, another consortium including British Airways, KLM, and United Airlines among others formed competing company, Galileo International, based on United's Apollo network. Numerous smaller companies have also been formed, aimed at geographic, industry, or language niches inadequately served by the "big four."
The big four GDS companies are all having problems. They've had trouble moderenizing their systems which run on slow mainframe computers. Airlines and hotels complain of fees from $12 to $17 per booking, online travel startup companies complain about (http://techpolicy.typepad.com/iamadamsmith/2004/12/open_letter_to__1.html) poor perfeformance and a lack of new services. To solve this problem, new GDS Alternatives are being launched such as G2 Switchworks (http://g2switchworks.com) and a service by ITA Software (http://www.eyefortravel.com/index.asp?news=43375).
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