Following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, domestic airline members of the Air Transport Association (ATA) operating the Area Settlement Plan (ASP), that had agreed to and signed the ARC Carrier Service Agreement, created the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). This Arlington VA based, self-governing corporation, appoints travel agencies to sell airline tickets and oversees the financial details of tracking payments to airlines and the disbursement of commissions to travel agencies for the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It processes approximately 150 million ticket transactions per year for its customers, which now include approximately 30,000 travel agents, and more than 150 domestic and international participating airline and railroad carriers.
Their main technology, the ARC Document Retrieval System launched in 2001, allows travel agents and carriers to access summaries and details of millions of airline ticket transactions over the Web. Prior to the availability of the ARC Document Retrieval System, agents and carriers had to rely on paper copies of ticket documents, microfiche and back-office systems to research ticket information for all of these transactions. ARC has centralized and simplified industry reporting in virtually every internal decision-making and workflow function. With the capability to archive and display 39 months of transaction data, made accessible on-line at all times, ARC Document Retrieval System has become the nucleus of travel industry information. The result is significant tangible and intangible cost reductions.
While most data warehouses are internally focused on sales, customer behavior, and supply chain optimization, ARC’s vision was to provide a travel industry solution to customers and give them the resources of an industry data warehouse. ARC offers more than 60 revenue-generating reporting products, and launches five new revenue-generating products each year.
Benefits of ARC data reports created for external customers in the travel industry include
- create targeted marketing plans,
- assess incentive programs,
- optimize promotions,
- offers insight for route and network planning,
- sales trends,
- customer behavior,
- demand forecasts,
- statistical profiles,
- point of sale analysis,
- targeted marketing campaigns
ARC introduced its Electronic Credit Card Billing (ECCB) in 1989, and in 1996 ECCB became part of the daily billing process. It was the first organization in the industry to comply with the payment card industry data security standard, and also complies with the European Union Safe Harbor program.
ARC is the cornerstone of the air travel industry, an integral part to its success and future. It offers the best settlement engine, is the recognized industry data store, and is the premier provider of industry knowledge and insight. Using increasingly sophisticated electronic means for ticket distribution, reporting, and remittance, these points of sale are responsible for air and rail sales of nearly $70 billion a year.
By Crystal Wright
References
- http://www.tdwi.org/research/display.aspx?id=8520
- http://www.arccorp.com/index.html
- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/18tickets.html?ex=1347768000&en=f1d65893d343701d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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