Pentagon Beefs Up E-Travel System with ITA Searches
The Pentagon’s Defense Travel System, which has been under fire for years as a money-wasting experiment, will use ITA Software’s QPX air pricing and shopping tool as part of a DTS initiative to make the e-travel system for civilian and military employees more efficient.
QPX, used by Orbitz, Continental, Kayak and numerous other travel industry partners, is being tweaked for government travel so it can be configured to access government negotiated fares; route itineraries through General Services Administration city pairs so travelers can tap into the GSA discounted fare program; search alternative airports; and display search results in a uniform manner regardless of which GDS the Pentagon’s Commercial Travel Offices use.
As part of the Reservation Refresh Project, the new air shopping system also identifies flights as operated by U.S. flag carriers so Defense Dept. civilian, active duty and reserve military personnel can adhere to the requirements of the Fly America Act.
The use of QPX searching for DTS replaces much of the air-search functionality formerly handled by GDS systems, according to ITA. Northrup Grumman won the DTS contract several years ago. With some $500 million spent to develop the online booking tool for Pentagon employees, congressional critics have labeled DTS a boondoggle.
They charge that the DTS is so cumbersome and inefficient that many employees bypass it, booking their travel elsewhere online or with travel agents. DTS has some 1.2 million registered users, and its rollout is slated to expand to some 12,000 locations by the fall.
The integration of ITA Software’s QPX air search tool into DTS is being handled for Northrup Grumman by subcontractor Dovel Technologies, a systems integrator in McLean, Virginia.
