E-tickets are sometimes not available for some flights from an airline which usually offers them. This can be due to a number of reasons, the most common being software incompatibility. If an airline issues tickets for a codeshare flight with another company, and there is no e-ticket interlining agreement, the operating carrier would not be able to see the issuing carrier's ticket. Therefore, the carrier that books the flight needs to provide hard copy versions of the tickets so that the ticket can be processed. Similarly, if the destination airport does not have access to the airline who booked the flight, a paper ticket needs to be issued.
Industry discount (ID) tickets also tend to be issued on paper if they are valid for more than one airline, and if the airlines that the tickets are valid for do not have an interlining agreement. Since e-ticket interlining is still the exception rather than the rule, tickets valid for more than one airline are usually issued on paper.
Currently the ticketing systems of most airlines are only able to produce e-tickets for itineraries of no more than 16 segments, including surface segments.
IATA mandated transition
As part of the IATA Simplifying the Business initiative, the association instituted a program to switch the industry to 100% electronic ticketing. The program concluded on June 1, 2008, with the association saying that the resulting industry savings were approximately US$3 billion [1].
In 2004, IATA Board of Governors set the end of 2007 as the deadline for airlines to make the transition to 100% electronic ticketing for tickets processed through the IATA billing and settlement plan [2]; in June 2007, the deadline was extended to May 31, 2008[3].
As of June 1, 2008 paper tickets can no longer be issued on neutral stock by agencies reporting to their local BSP[disambiguation needed]. Agents reporting to the ARC[disambiguation needed], using company-provided stock or issuing tickets on behalf of an airline (GSAs and ticketing offices) are not subject to that restriction.
Except the industry was unable to comply with the IATA mandate and paper tickets remain in circulation as of February 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment