GDS QUEUES and How to Manage / Work Them

It is imperative that an airlines using the GDS functionality within ameliaRES manage their own GDS queues.

This is how your airline can communicate with the Travel Agency communities booking and using your airlines services.

Normally this function is set to a department or group within the airline (the Call Centre or Reservations Management, etc.)

Each morning when the agent opens ameliaRES, they should also open the GDS Q monitor

To do this go to Operations → GDS → Monitor GDS Messages

This will be a Q counter in the lower right hand portion of the ameliaRES screen, beside Messages and Alerts

To access the Queues simply double click on the GDS (or you can go to Operations → GDS → GDS Messaging)

When the Queue is opened there are some drop down menus that will assist the user in categorizing what needs to be worked

The screen will open up with the defaults of:

Type:  ALL
Status: RCVD - Received

Under Status there are 4 selections:

RCVD - Received - This are messages that we have received but have not processed
PRCD - Processed - These are messages that we have received and have correctly processed
PEND - Pending - These are messages that we have received and are pending a response or some other action
SENT - Sent - These are message that ameliaRES has sent back to the GDS in response to us processing their incoming request

If the agent has not worked Queues before, consider this as an email box.  Simply put, you have an message coming in and a message going out with a response on it.

In this instance, we want to work the RCVD queue.  These are the messages that are awaiting action from the airline in response back to the GDS (travel agency)

Under Type there are numerous types of messaged that we receive or sent out:

PNR - PNR - Message received from a GDS that contain information on a PNR (Inbound)
AVS - AVS - Message that contains availability information going to a GDS (Outbound)
UNK - Unknown - Message that we don't how to handle (Inbound)
RSP - PNR Response - Message back to a GDS with our PNR response (Outbound)
PNL - Pax Name List - Message containing all of the passenger names on a flight - sent when the airline uses another DCS system other that ameliaRES (Outbound)
ADL - Add/Delet List - Follow up Message to the PNL with any additions or changes or deletions to the PNL (Outbound)
DVD - Divided Message - Message requesting that the PNR containing more than one passenger be split into different PNRs (Inbound)
NAR - New Arrival Info - Message adding a new arrival flight information to an existing PNR (Inbound)
NCO - New Continue Info - Message adding an onward or continuing flight to an existing PNR (Inbound)
PFS - Final Sales Msg - Message sent to ameliaRES from another DCS when they close out the flight in their system (Inbound)
ASC - Advise of Sched Chng - Message sent to all GDS PNRs when the airline does a Schedule Change (Outbound)
MVT - Movement Message - Message containing OUT/OFF/ON/IN times of the flights (Inbound& (Outbound)
ETL - Eticket List - Message containing the E Tickets processed on check in and flight close out (Outbound)
SSM - Schedule Message - Schedule change message (Outbound)
CHNT - Change Name Message - Message from the GDS (travel agency) requesting a name change on an existing PNR (Inbound)
PNRGOV - PNRGOV Message - Message containing passenger and passport information to a government agency (Outbound)
FTL - Freq Trav List - Message containing a list of passengers and their FQTV number for processing in ameliaRES (Inbound)
PAL - Pax Assist List - Message containing a list of passenger and any special needs that have been requested such as WCHR, MAAS, BLND, etc (Outbound)
CAL - Change Assist List - Follow up message to the PAL with any additions or changes or deletions to the PAL (Outbound)

For this article we will focus on the following messages:  PNR, UNK, DVD, CHNT in the RCVD folder

To make a quick hit on the number of messages waiting to be processed the agent can remove the UNK messages.

Follow these steps:

Have the RCVD folder open and click on the UNK tab in the drop down menu:

The list of UNK message will be displayed.  In the upper quadrant are the list of messages. In the lower quadrant is the actual message.
In this case it is a PDM - Possible Duplicate Message.  This means that the GDS has already sent a message is probably sitting in the PNR folder waiting to be processed.
To clear this message, double click on the blue highlighted line.  The message will open up in a new window.

In the drop down box that currently says RCVD - Received click the down arrow and select PRCD - Processed

Click the Save button or alternatively you can use the keyboard shortcut of Alt - S
The message will then move to the PRCD list and be removed from the RCVD list
Move to the next UNK message and work them all until there are no UNK messages left.

The next Queue to be worked should be the CHNT - Name Change list.  If the airline chooses to allow Name Changes over the GDS these will process automatically.  However there may be one or two that will not process.  In this case look at the name on the message and verify what is on the PNR in ameliaRES.  If necessary make the change and follow the routine above to move the message to PRCD

If the airline does not allow name changes over the GDS, it will be necessary to respond to the GDS - Travel agency that name changes are not allowed.
In this case do the following:

With the message in blue highlight

Click on the Reply button in the lower right corner of the window

This will bring up a new window the the message inside:

Type the following (or something similar) in the next line below the last line of text:

We know this came from a 1G GDS by the SWI1G in the upper corner.  You will see either 1G, 1S, 1A, 1V, or 1P.  All you need is the GDS code.
The format will ALWAYS be SSR OTHS 1G and then what ever text you wish to send.  The will allow you message any travel agency with remarks.
Once you are satisfied with your format and text, simple click the SEND button

The response will be:

Click OK and move on to the next message.

This same process for either the UNK or CHNT queues can be followed with the DVD messages.

In this case you are given BOTH PNR locator numbers.  Go into ameliaRES and look to see if the DVD was actually processed.  If not, do the split, attach the NEW PNR locator number and reply back to the GDS - Travel agency accordingly.

1 - OLD locator number
2 - NEW locator number

Reply back to the GDS - Travel agency using the formats found in the Name Change section OR if the DVD was done automatically, simply move the message to Processed as in the UNK section

Finally you can work the actual PNR  messages in the queue

Each message must be investigated separately.  There is text in the actual message box that we (ameliaRES) add as to why the message rejected and needs to be handled manually.
When you look at how many GDS messages are actually received and processed automatically and successfully, the number in this queue is the tiniest percentage of all that we receive.

The first case:

Double click on the blue highlight bar and open the  message

What is this message telling us?

1 - the "old" segment for X class on 08JUN
2 - the "new" requested segment for T class on 10JUN

We added the response notes that the PNR has multiple payment types.  Meaning?   The the travel has probably already begun, there is a payment of the GDS ticket on our PNR and also, probably, and excess baggage charge that was collected at the airport or some other charge.  What the agent needs to do here is go into the ameliaRES PNR, make the changes, if allowed by the airline, and then respond back to the agent.  The other possibility here is that the GDS - Travel agency has requested space on the same routing without cancelling the old segment.   

The Second Case:

This is a GROUP request and we don't process groups over the GDS.  As you can see in the message the GDS - Travel Agency are requesting 15 seats.  If you have a "Groups desk or Groups agent" advise them of this queue and let them process accordingly to the airlines standards and procedures.

The Third Case:

This is similar to the first case above.  There are multiple payments involved.  The GDS - Travel Agency is requesting that the PNR be cancelled "XX" status code.  Go into the ameliaRES PNR and process the cancellation as set in the airlines standards and procedures.   You may respond back to the travel agency if you wish but hitting the REPLY button and changing the XX status to HX which signifies that the cancellation was complete.  If you don't wish to respond to the GDS - Travel Agency, simply move the message to PRCD

Work through the PNR messages until there are none remaining.

This should be done once or twice per each day.