Fact Sheet - IATA Billing and Settlement Plan

• IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) is a system designed to facilitate and simplify the selling, reporting and remitting procedures of IATA Accredited Passenger Sales Agents, as well as improve financial control and cash flow of participating airlines 
• A worldwide system that operates in some 177 countries and territories 
• In 2012 IATA’s BSP processed $251.8 billion

Year	Agents	Sales $ bn	Bad debt $ m	Bad debt % sales
2003	58,900	132	43	0.032
2004	59,500	158	55	0.035
2005	60,400	171	62	0.036
2006	60,557	187	31	0.017
2007	53,894	220	53	0.024
2008	54,566	240	85	0.035
2009	54,848	191	128	0.067
2010	55,036	221	54	0.029
2011	53,914	249	68	0.027
2012	60,471	252	64	.02

BSP Participating Airlines Benefits

• Access to a global distribution network of IATA accredited travel agents who have signed a single standard Passenger Sales Agency Agreement with IATA 
• Neutral agent verification services by IATA including financial evaluation and status monitoring 
• Reliable credit management with a collection rate of 99.976% 
• Access to IATA’s BSP and BSPlink that together provide a single standard interface for invoicing and payment between agents and airlines 
• Protection in case of violation of the Passenger Sales Agency Agreement or fraudulent practices

IATA Accredited Travel Agent Benefits

• Access to more than 240 IATA airline members using a single standard Passenger Sales Agency Agreement.
• Ability to sell international and/or domestic tickets on behalf of the airlines
• Access to IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), and BSPlink that together provide a single standard interface for invoicing and payment between the agent and multiple airlines and transport providers
• Global travel industry recognition through an IATA Numeric Code that provides a unique agent identifier  
• Global consumer confidence due to recognition of IATA-accredited travel agents meeting industry standards identifiable by the IATA logo and branding displayed on travel agents’ premises and websites
• Provides standard procedures which ensure fair and uniform standards in all dealings with airlines

Consumer Benefits

• Confidence that IATA accredited travel agents meet industry standards and financial  criteria 
• Unbiased advice and the option to purchase tickets on a wide range of airlines through IATA-accredited travel agents

Updated: December 2013

BSPlink

IATA provides services for the settlement of financial transactions between travel agents and the airlines. This service consolidates the amounts owed by each agent and the amounts due to each airline and enables the settlement to be made through one single financial transfer for each participant. BSP link is an innovative, internet-based system, which facilitates these interactions and exchanges of information between all participants in the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP).

• Easier and faster access to ticketing information, no longer do you have to wait for the distribution of paper outputs.  All the information you need is available 24 hours a day in your office
• Less filing, all the information you need is electronically stored
• Reduced printing and mailing costs, transactions are conducted over the internet
• Less opportunity for errors, automated processes reduce manual errors
• Easy access to reference data, through electronic document search.

Overview of functionality

• Easy-to-use functionality to administer ADM/ACM transactions
• Instantaneous set-up and maintenance of ticketing authorities with immediate messages to CRS
• On-line authorization of electronic refund application
• ADM/ACM interface for airlines that already have their own system
• Auto-completion of ADM/ACM transactions based on data from document enquiry
• Electronic access to  BSP reports and statistics
• Communication links to allow airlines to communicate fare or other information to agents via upload by the  BSP office
• User level control of access levels
• Secure FTP as alternative file transfer method

Who is it for

• Agents, Agent Groups, Travel Agent
• Airlines
• CRSs, DPCs, BSPs
• Third Parties
• Accounts Revenue managers

IATA BSP Consolidator System (IBCS)

The IATA BSP Consolidator System (IBCS) is a partnership between IATA and General Sales Agents (GSA) organizations that have a global reach, i.e. that are represented in a minimum of 20 BSP markets. The aim of IBCS is to harness the resources of those GSA to facilitate wider participation of all scheduled airlines in the global BSP network, by allowing BSP membership on a variable cost basis.

Historically, on a cost/benefit basis, not all BSPs have been economically attractive to every carrier. BSP costs have typically been lowest when ticket volume is high and considerably more expensive when volumes are small – owing to the fixed costs of joining/running fees that are prorated among BSP member carriers.

An alternative for airlines in marginal markets

The IBCS program provides an opportunity to profitably participate in marginal market BSPs with negligible capital risk. It is especially geared to airlines seeking to develop incremental revenues from those markets, and small and start-up carriers looking to widen their distribution reach at low cost.

This system complements the normal BSP participation model. It allows both large and small carriers with lower volumes in a particular BSP market to gain the benefits of a BSP, but without the comparatively high upfront joining fee. The offset is a higher processing fee for each transaction.

IBCS is a “win-win-win” programme for airlines, the BSPs and the IATA Agents. Find out more by contacting one of the IBCS consolidators below or your local IATA representative.

IBCS consolidators:

• APG
• AVIAREPS
• Discover the World Marketing
• TAL Aviation Ltd 

How a BSP works

A BSP is the central point through which data and funds flow between travel agents and airlines. Instead of every agent having an individual relationship with each airline, all of the information is consolidated through the BSP.

Agents make one single payment to the BSP (remittance), covering sales on all BSP Airlines. The BSP makes one consolidated payment to each airline, covering sales made by all agents in the country/region.

Agents are provided with a range of electronic ticket numbers to be used for sales on any airline.

Working processes for Agents

1. Preparation to sell on behalf of airlines

Before an agent can begin selling on behalf of airlines, the following must take place:

• A range of electronic ticket numbers are assigned to the Agent.
• The Airline assigns ticketing authority to the Agent to allow issue of ETs.
• Agents need to have access to an IATA-approved ticketing system such as a Global Distribution System (GDS).

2. Reporting by Agents

The agent reports all sales and refunds at the end of the reporting period. This is done electronically, through BSPlink. All transactions are forwarded to a central BSP Data Processing Centre (DPC).

3. Processing by BSP

The Data Processing Centre:

• Captures the tickets and refunds information from data files that have been transmitted by the GDS/ticketing system or other automated system such as BSPlink.
• Processes all relevant data and produce an “Agents Billing Analysis” for each agent. This analysis is compiled from the information of one or more reporting periods.
• Forwards a statement of sales made by Agents to each BSP Airline. This statement is compiled from the information of one or more reporting periods.
• Monitors ET ranges and provide replenishment as necessary.

4. Payment

The Agent makes just one net remittance covering all its BSP transactions for that period for all BSP Airlines. The BSP preferred method of payment is by direct debit.

5. Follow up by Airlines

The accounting department of each airline audits incoming data and addresses debit/credit accounting memoranda (ADM/ACM) to agents as necessary.

IATA---> Billing and SettlementPlan (BSP)

Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP)

BSP is a system designed to facilitate and simplify the selling, reporting and remitting procedures of IATA Accredited Passenger Sales Agents, as well as improve financial control and cash flow for BSP Airlines.

A truly worldwide system: at the close of 2013, there were 88 BSPs, covering 179 countries and territories serving about 400 airlines, while gross sales processed amounted to USD 259 billion. 

New BSP Rwanda was implemented in 2013.

Benefits of a BSP

Simplification

• Agents issue one sales report and remit one amount to a central point
• Airlines receive one settlement covering all agents
• Simplifies and reduces work through the use of electronic ticketing on behalf of all BSP Airlines
• Agents’ sales are reported electronically

Savings

• Less resources required for billing and collection
• Electronic distribution of billing reports, and generation of debit/credit memos (ADMs/ACMs) via BSPlink

Enhanced Control

• Increased financial control thanks to centralization and grouping
• Consolidated document flow, permitting accelerated quality controls
• Overall process monitoring by a neutral body

Participation in a BSP

Airlines

Participation in a BSP is open to all airlines (IATA members and non-members) serving the country or area concerned. 

IATA Accredited Agents

All IATA Accredited Agents in the BSP country of operation are automatically eligible for participation in a BSP. When a new BSP commences operations in a country, all Agents are notified by IATA and invited to participate.

General Sales Agents (GSAs) and Airport Handling Agents (AHA)

GSAs and AHAs may participate in a BSP (in the same way as Accredited Agents), on nomination by the airline they represent, and subject to the airline entering into a standard agreement.

To obtain the local participation criteria and conditions, please contact  customer service for your region

Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP)

From Wikipedia ..

Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) (also known as "Bank Settlement Plan") is an electronic billing system designed to facilitate the flow of data and funds between travel agencies and airlines. The advantage of such an intermediary organization is that instead of each travel agency having an individual relationship with each airline, all of the information is consolidated through the BSP.

BSP's are organized on a local basis, usually one per country. However there are some BSP's which cover more than one country (for example the Nordics). The International Air Transport Association states that at the close of 2009, there were 86 BSP's covering more than 160 countries worldwide, while at the close of 2011, there were 88 BSPs, covering 176 countries and territories serving about 400 airlines, with gross sales processed amounting to USD 249 billion.^[1]

Travel agents (TA) are usually required to be accredited by either Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), when they are located in the US, or BSP outside of the US, in order to issue airline reservations through GDS

International Air Transport Association (IATA)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines. It represents some 240 airlines or more than 80% of total air traffic. IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

International Air Transport Association
Abbreviation	IATA
Formation	19 April 1945; 68 years ago inHavana, Cuba
Type	international trade association
Headquarters	800 Place Victoria (rue Gauvin), Montreal, Canada
Coordinates	45.5006°N 73.5617°W
Membership	approx. 240 airlines (2013)
DG and CEO	Tony Tyler
Website	www.iata.org

History

IATA was formed in April 1945 in Havana, Cuba.^[3] It is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association, which was formed in 1919 at The Hague, Netherlands. At its founding, IATA consisted of 57 airlines from 31 countries. Much of IATA’s early work was technical and it provided input to the newly created International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which was reflected in the annexes of the Chicago Convention, the international treaty that still governs the conduct of international air transport today.

The Chicago Convention couldn’t resolve the issue of who flies where, however, and this has resulted in the thousands of bilaterals in existence today. The benchmark standard for the early bilaterals was the 1946 United States-United Kingdom Bermuda Agreement.^[4][5]

IATA was also charged by the governments with setting a coherent fare structure that avoided cut-throat competition but also looked after the interests of the consumer. The first Traffic Conference was held in 1947^[6] in Rio de Janeiro and reached unanimous agreement on some 400 resolutions.^[7]

Aviation grew rapidly over the following decades and IATA’s work duly expanded. It transformed its trade association activities to take account of the new dynamics in aviation, which was seeing increasing demand from the leisure sector. Price flexibility became increasingly important and the United States led the way into deregulation in 1978.^[8][9]

IATA has cemented its position as the voice of the aviation industry in recent years, launching a number of important programs and lobbying governments in the wake of successive crises.

Priorities

Safety

Safety is the number one priority for IATA. The main instrument for safety is the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) and its successor, Enhanced IOSA. IOSA has also been mandated at the state level by several countries. In 2012, aviation posted its safest year ever. The global Western-built jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per million flights of Western-built jets) was 0.20, the equivalent of one accident every 5 million flights.^[10] Future improvements will be founded on data sharing with a database fed by a multitude of sources and housed by the Global Safety Information Center.

Security

Security has become increasingly important following the tragedy of 9/11. Following a series of uncoordinated rules by different countries, the industry has developed a Checkpoint of the Future,^[11][12] which is based on risk assessment and passenger differentiation.

Simplifying the Business

Simplifying the Business^[13] was launched in 2004. This initiative has introduced a number of crucial concepts to passenger travel, including the electronic ticket^[14] and the bar coded boarding pass. Many other innovations are being established as part of the Fast Travel initiative, including a range of self-service baggage options.

A new program that has drawn plenty of interest is New Distribution Capability.^[15] This will replace the old EDIFACT messaging standard that is still the basis of the global distribution system /travel agent channel and replace it with an XML standard. This will enable the same choices to be offered to high street travel shoppers as are offered to those who book directly through airline websites. A filing with the US Department of Transportation brought over 400 comments.^[16][17]

Environment

IATA members and all industry stakeholders have agreed to three sequential environmental goals:

1. An average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per annum from 2009 through 2020
2. A cap on net carbon emissions from aviation from 2020 (carbon-neutral growth)
3. A 50% reduction in net aviation carbon emissions by 2050 relative to 2005 levels.

At the 69th IATA AGM in Cape Town, South Africa, members overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution on “Implementation of the Aviation Carbon-Neutral Growth (CNG2020) Strategy.”^[18]

The resolution provides governments with a set of principles on how governments could:

• Establish procedures for a single market-based measure (MBM)
• Integrate a single MBM as part of an overall package of measures to achieve CNG2020

IATA member airlines agreed that a single mandatory carbon offsetting scheme would be the simplest and most effective option for an MBM.

Services

IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to aviation.

Travel Agent accreditation is available for travel professionals. Full accreditation allows agents to sell tickets on behalf of all IATA member airlines.

Cargo Agent accreditation is a similar program.

IATA also runs the Billing and Settlement Plan, which is a $300 billion-plus financial system that looks after airline money.

And it provides a number of business intelligence publications and services.

Training covers all aspects of aviation and ranges from beginner courses through to senior management courses.

Publications - Standards

A number of standards are defined under the umbrella of IATA. One of the most important is the transport of dangerous goods (HAZMAT).

Aircraft leases

Aircraft leases are a number of types of leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons; to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide temporary increase in capacity. The industry has two main leasing types, wet leasing which is normally used for short term leasing and dry leasing which is more normal for the longer term leases. The industry also uses combinations of wet and dry when for example the aircraft is wet-leased to establish new services then as the airlines flight or cabin crews become trained they can be switched to a dry lease.

Wet lease

A wet lease is a leasing arrangement whereby one airline (lessor) provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) to an airline [or other type of business acting as abroker of air travel] (the lessee), which pays by hours operated. The lessee provides fuel and covers airport fees, and any other duties, taxes, etc. The flight uses the flight number of the lessee. A wet lease generally lasts one month to two years; anything less would be considered an ad hoc charter. A wet lease is typically utilized during peak traffic seasons or annual heavy maintenance checks, or to initiate new routes.^[1] A wet leased aircraft may be used to fly services into countries where the lessee is banned from operating.^{[2][not in citation given]}

They can also be considered as a form of charter whereby the lessor provides minimum operating services, including ACMI, and the lessee provides the balance of services along with flight numbers. In all other forms of charter, the lessor provides the flight numbers. Variations of a wet lease include a code share arrangement and a block seat agreement.

Wet leases are occasionally used for political reasons; for instance, EgyptAir, an Egyptian government enterprise, cannot fly to Israel under its own name, as a matter of Egyptian government policy. Therefore, Egyptian flights from Cairo to Tel Aviv are operated by Air Sinai, which wet-leases from EgyptAir to get around the political issue.^[3]

In the United Kingdom, a wet lease is when an aircraft is operated under the air operator's certificate (AOC) of the lessor.^[4]

Damp lease

When an air carrier provides less than an entire aircraft crew, the wet lease is also sometimes referred to as a damp lease, a term especially used in the UK. A wet lease without crew is occasionally referred to as a moist lease.^[1]

Dry lease

A dry lease is a leasing arrangement whereby an aircraft financing entity, such as GECAS and ILFC (lessor), provides an aircraft without insurance, crew, ground staff, supporting equipment, maintenance, etc. Dry lease is typically used by leasing companies and banks, requiring the lessee to put the aircraft on its own AOC and provide aircraft registration. A typical dry lease starts from two years onwards and bears certain conditions with respect to depreciation, maintenance, insurances, etc., depending also on the geographical location, political circumstances, etc.

A dry lease arrangement can also be used by a major airline and a regional operator, in which the regional operator provides flight crews, maintenance and other operational aspects of the aircraft, which then may be operated under the major airline's name or some similar name. This saves the major airline the expense of training personnel to fly and maintain the aircraft, along with other considerations. Fedex Express uses an arrangement of this type for its feeder operations, contracting to companies such as Empire Airlines, Mountain Air Cargo, Swiftair, and others to operate its single and twin-engined turbo-prop "feeder" aircraft. DHL has a joint venture in the United States with Polar Air Cargo, a subsidiary of Atlas Air, to operate their domestic deliveries.

In the United Kingdom, a dry lease is when an aircraft is operated under the AOC of the lessee.

Aviation maintenance administrationmen (AZ)

Aviation maintenance administrationmen (AZ) perform a variety of clerical, administrative, and managerial duties necessary to keep aircraft maintenance activities running efficiently. The rating requires close communication with all other aviation maintenance ratings.

The duties performed by AZs include:

• scheduling aircraft inspections;
• keeping charts that show trends in aircraft system reliability;
• organizing and operating libraries of technical publications, reports and related maintenance data;
• issuing aircraft inspection and work orders;
• performing clerical and administrative duties such as filing and typing;
• preparing reports and correspondence;
• performing computer data base and system analysis;
• maintaining engine logbooks and associated aircraft records. 

Working Environment

Aviation maintenance administrationmen usually work in a clean, comfortable office environment. Places of work vary depending on whether they are assigned to sea or shore duty. The tasks they perform are mostly mental and require close cooperation with fellow workers. AZs may be assigned to an aircraft or helicopter squadron that may deploy on Navy ships. Opportunities also exist to work in squadrons based at overseas sites or within the continental United States

A-School (Job School) Information

Meridian, MS -- 96 calendar days

ASVAB Score Requirement: VE + AR = 102

Security Clearance Requirement: Secret

Other Requirements

Must be U.S. Citizen

Sub-Specialties Available for This Rating: Navy Enlisted Classification Codes for AZ

Current Manning Levels for This Rating: CREO Listing

Note: Advancement ( promotion ) opportunity and career progression are directly linked to a rating's manning level (i.e., personnel in undermanned ratings have greater promotion opportunity than those in overmanned ratings).

Sea/Shore Rotation for This Rating

• First Sea Tour:42 months
• First Shore Tour: 36months
• Second Sea Tour: 36months
• Second Shore Tour: 48 months
• Third Sea Tour: 36 months
• Third Shore Tour: 48 months
• Fourth Sea Tour: 36 months
• Forth Shore Tour: 48 months

Note: Sea tours and shore tours for sailors that have completed four sea tours will be 36 months at sea followed by 36 months ashore until retirement.