NDC Implementation: What Travel Managers Need to Know this Year
In a conversation with temoji’s Paul Tilstone, Blockskye VP of Sales Danielle Cavnor explores the current state of NDC adoption and what it means for corporate travel programs navigating today's complex distribution landscape. Watch the full interview below.
More than a decade after its introduction, NDC (New Distribution Capability) remains one of corporate travel's most complex challenges. In the video above, Danielle Cavnor—who spent six years managing PwC's 67,000+ traveler program before joining Blockskye—discusses why content distribution has become travel managers' primary concern and what the industry's uneven NDC progress means in practice.
The result? A fragmented landscape where accessing the "best content at the best price" has become increasingly difficult, even as economic pressures demand better cost control and traveler satisfaction.
The market shift that changed everything for travel managers
The corporate travel environment has undergone a structural transformation that many travel managers are still processing. What was once a buyer's market—where corporations could negotiate meaningful discounts with airlines and hotels—has shifted decisively in favor of suppliers.
As Cavnor explains in her conversation with industry veteran Paul Tilstone, this shift isn't temporary. It reflects structural changes in how airlines control and distribute their content, influenced by reduced travel volumes, consolidated market power, and the strategic importance suppliers place on direct relationships with travelers.
For travel managers, this means traditional negotiation tactics are less effective. Even large corporations with significant travel volumes find themselves with diminished leverage compared to previous years. Meanwhile, travel costs continue rising despite reduced post-COVID volumes, creating a cost-control challenge that requires new approaches.
The implication is clear: when negotiation power decreases, comprehensive content access becomes critical for program success.
What "best content access" really means today
As Cavnor notes from her experience managing corporate travel programs, "Travel managers really want to understand and get access to the best content — the best priced content." But this requirement has evolved beyond simply finding the lowest fare.
Today's corporate travel programs need:
Comprehensive access across multiple distribution channels (GDS, NDC, direct supplier connections)
Enterprise-grade capabilities that maintain duty of care, policy compliance, and expense management
Transparent pricing that reveals true costs rather than hiding them in opaque fee structures
Consistent servicing regardless of how or where bookings are made
The challenge often involves balancing these requirements. Many travel management solutions force programs to choose between comprehensive content and enterprise capabilities—a false choice that creates operational problems and limits program effectiveness.
Managing uneven adoption and progress
As Cavnor observes in the discussion, "Every airline is at very different stages" in their NDC journey. Some carriers have made substantial investments in technology and strategy, offering enhanced merchandising capabilities and improved content distribution. Others have made minimal progress, constrained by cost considerations or competing priorities.
This creates complexity for travel managers who must work with different technical capabilities across their preferred airline partners.
From her perspective as a former travel manager, Cavnor poses the key question: "How do you manage everyone being at this very different stage in their technical journey?"
The answer lies in platforms that can handle content from multiple sources seamlessly, abstracting the technical complexity from travel managers while maintaining the program management capabilities corporate travel requires.
Proven strategies for NDC success
Organizations that have successfully navigated these challenges share several characteristics:
Comprehensive Content Strategy: Rather than relying on single-source solutions, they access content across multiple channels—traditional GDS, NDC-enabled connections, and direct supplier relationships.
Technology Integration: They use platforms built specifically to handle modern distribution complexity, rather than bolt-on solutions that treat NDC as an afterthought.
Transparent Partnerships: They work with service providers who provide clear information about pricing, content sources, and capabilities rather than obscuring complexity behind opaque systems.
Flexible Implementation: They choose modular solutions that can adapt to their specific program requirements while maintaining flexibility to evolve as the market changes.
How program scale affects your NDC strategy
Program size significantly impacts the benefits available from modern distribution approaches. Large corporations can realize substantial savings simply by switching to platforms that provide better content access and eliminate intermediary fees.
However, program strategy matters more than size alone. Some programs prioritize experiential benefits for travelers, while others focus primarily on cost reduction. The most effective approach involves understanding your specific strategic objectives before evaluating solutions.
Maintaining program control during transitions
Innovation shouldn't require sacrificing program management capabilities. The most effective solutions deliver enhanced content access while maintaining comprehensive duty of care, policy compliance, and servicing capabilities.
Corporate travel programs cannot compromise on traveler safety and program oversight, regardless of content access benefits. As Cavnor emphasizes, "You can't give it all away for free and then still not have duty of care and still not have the basics that allow you to provide a good travel program."
Why collaboration beats competition in NDC
As Cavnor and Tilstone discuss, success in today's environment requires collaboration across the travel ecosystem rather than viewing distribution evolution as a competitive challenge. Travel buyers and suppliers have naturally aligned interests—better content control for airlines, enhanced access and pricing for travel managers, improved experiences for travelers.
Here at Blockskye, we believe technology should enable these relationships rather than complicate them. When airlines have better control over their content and merchandising capabilities, and travel managers get enhanced access with transparent pricing, everyone benefits.
Preparing for the future of airline distribution
Travel managers need comprehensive content access and cost control, but the traditional tools for achieving both have fundamentally changed. The shift to a supplier-favorable market reflects structural changes in airline content control and distribution that aren't temporary.
NDC implementation will remain uneven across carriers, creating ongoing operational complexity for travel programs. Success requires platforms that integrate various distribution approaches while serving the sophisticated needs of enterprise travel programs—solutions built on transparency, reliability, and genuine partnership across the travel ecosystem.
Blockskye partners with KAYAK for Business to deliver comprehensive corporate travel solutions. Want to see how this integrated approach handles the NDC challenges discussed above? Schedule time here.
