THE NEW DISTRIBUTION CAPABILITY (NDC) 637 vision is to enhance the optimisation process, based upon customer value, travel history, etc. The second focuses on simplification and modernisation of the PSS. In this case, NDC is only a first step towards an API that serves as a unique source of content. The more recent NDC projects have been larger in size, and impact airlines well beyond just their distribution departments. 7.3. Implementing NDC is a large-scale project From experience, a full NDC implementation takes at least six months, and can go up to two years, depending on the scope of the project and the resources available. Nevertheless, considering the wide scope of benefits and its potential modularity, the NDC programme doesn’t necessarily have to take that long. NDC is not a one-size-fits-all implementation. Nor is it a plug-and-play implementation. What an airline does with NDC largely depends on its ambitions. As airlines embark, or continue on their respective NDC journeys, competition is expected to increase, resulting in enhanced customer value and benefits. The size and shape of the programme for an airline greatly depends on its strategy, its status, especially from an IT point of view, and on its considerations for the NDC project (stand alone or part of a larger project). Airlines may choose to put the focus on Offer Management or to extend their capability to deploy an Order Management solution as well. Some might want to use NDC to deploy a more flexible ancillary platform, others may choose to go as far as dynamic pricing. Some airlines already have certain IT components, or in some cases, even some NDC capabilities (e.g. airlines that already have APIs with XML connectivity). Others will be starting from scratch with only a very basic e-commerce platform, which may only partially suffice for NDC. An airline could choose to do one large programme, implementing a wide range of the NDC components. On the other hand, an airline may choose to break it into sub-projects of various smaller modules, giving priority to lower risk or higher value components, and only deciding on the next step once the first one reaches completion. Choosing the approach may be a decision based on cost, risk, available skillsets and other projects running in parallel. There is no ‘right way’ except the way that suits each airline and environment best. The most successful NDC programme will be the one that can be managed in a controlled fashion.
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