Flight disruption - NDC schedule changes

Important: This flight disruption workflow applies if your agency has opted in for HK NDC flight segment status (rather than ZK). If your agency has not opted in for HK segment status, refer to the original flight disruption process.

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Overview

On November 20, 2025, Travelport introduced a new NDC airline schedule change workflow. Agencies consuming NDC content now have airline flight diruptions and schedule changes automatically reflected in their NDC booking.

  • Travelport+ (1G) receives an NDC schedule change notification from the airline for an NDC booking.

  • Travelport+ automatically updates the flight information, and adds, updates, or removes any new segments related to the change.

  • Travelport+ continues to store the original and new segment details in the DI lines.

These enhancements aim to reduce manual intervention and improve the overall efficiency of disruption handling for travel agents and agencies.

To fully support the new flight disruption workflow, all PCCs within an agency must have their AAT table's NORM field set to Y.

When an agency sets their AAT table NORM field to Y, they will see the new NDC flight status display as HK, which aligns more closely with industry standard and improves overall booking accuracy. Although the status will show HK, booking creation, modifications, and cancellations will still be serviced via Cloud.

Note: From February 3, 2026, Travelport will automatically activate the NORM field Y.

New NDC airline schedule change workflow

Important information:

  • The new NDC airline schedule change workflow requires each agency to opt in to this functionality. To opt-in, contact your CSM or Account Manager.

  • To fully service NDC booking files for carriers launched after November 19, 2025 (e.g., All Nippon Airways and Saudia Airlines), agencies must opt in. Once enabled, the new functionality will apply across ALL carriers.

  • Agencies who previously opted for the NDC Normalization ZK to HK segment status will automatically be included in this new flight disruption - NDC schedule change processing.

  • Non-opt in agencies continue to see only ZK segments and still require PNR Sync to process schedule changes. Refer to original flight disruption process. However, for airlines such as All Nippon, Saudia Airlines, and future carriers, the PNR Sync process will not work. It is therefore essential to opt in to the new feature capability. All agencies will eventually default to the new flow.

  • Agencies using automation to service bookings should review the automation for compatibility.

Agencies consuming NDC content now have airline flight disruptions and schedule changes automatically reflected in their NDC booking file.

When an NDC schedule change notification is received from the airline, Travelport+ updates the flight segment status accordingly. This includes:

  • Changing UN (Not Operating) to TK (Schedule Change).

  • Updating TK (when used alone, indicates a Time Change).

  • Adding UN or HX (Have Canceled) segments to the itinerary.

After the itinerary is updated, the booking is routed to specific queues based on the type of schedule change received:

  • Queue 11 – For schedule changes, including flight number changes, route changes, retiming, and partial involuntary cancellations.

  • Queue 23 – For full involuntary cancellations, TTL expiry, no-shows, and voluntary changes made outside the NDC channel.

Action involuntary changes

Important: Agents must accept, modify, or cancel the airline schedule change either by using Smartpoint Cloud or Smartpoint Desktop through the NDC capabilities within Flight Search.

Accept involuntary changes

To accept involuntary changes:

  1. Retrieve the booking file in the graphical booking flow.

  2. The booking file displays with a Schedule changed warning in the Reservation information. Schedule change information displays on the right panel, with UN segment status for the original flight which is no longer operating and TK segment status for the new flight the customer is re-accommodated on.

    If the customer is satisfied with the re-accommodation, select the Accept changes button.

    If the updates are successful, a Schedule change accepted toast message displays. The Schedule changed warning and the UN status segment are removed, and all segments now show HK status.

    Note: The airline may revalidate or reissue tickets (varies by airline) depending on the type of disruption.

An airline sends a schedule change notification with a time change on segment 1, SIN to MEL.

  • The original flight was departing at 2330 arriving at 0856. Now the flight is departing at 2340 and arriving at 0904.

  • Segment 1 status changes to TK and the new flight times are shown in the itinerary.

  • The booking file is placed on Q11 and the DI lines are updated with the original and new flight information.

Follow the Accept involuntary changes steps above to process the flight time change.

The outbound flight, segment 1, is no longer operating and the airline has not rebooked the customer on an alternative flight.

The airline has not offered an alternative. Airlines can send either the status of UN or HX.

In this example, the booking file can be modified to search for an select an alternative flight, or canceled if no suitable alternative is available.

If supported by the airline, if the customer decides not to travel, service the booking following the cancel involuntary changes process. If not supported by the airline, contact the airline to request a refund.

Modify involuntary changes

If the traveler is unsatisfied with the new flight options returned by the airline, the agent can look for alternatives. Provided the airline's business rules for involuntary changes are satisfied by the new flights selected, the penalties are waived.

  1. Retrieve the booking file in the graphical booking flow.

  2. Select the Change flights button.

  3. The NDC Air Search (Modify) panel on the left is pre-populated with the current flights. Change the date/time for the undesired flight to something more suitable.

    In this example, the airline changed the outbound from 11 NOV to 12 NOV and the user has decided to search for 10 NOV:

  4. To look for alternative flights, select Search. Alternate flight options display with the price difference showing as $0.00 if the penalties have been waived by the airline.

    Note: Certain airlines do not support rebooking via the NDC API after flight disruption with penalties waived. If this is the case, the price differences shown for the flight options will not be $0.00. A warning banner displays advising the user they may need to contact the airline directly to rebook without penalties.

  5. Select the new flight option. The Review and confirm screen displays confirming the flight selections and again displaying that the penalties have been waived.

  6. After reviewing, select Ticket.

    The confirmation screen displays, indicating that the new flights have been booked successfully. If the airline has reissued the ticket, the new tickets are displayed.

    Waiver code

    Certain airlines may require the user to enter a waiver code to have the penalties waived. If this is the case, the Apply waiver to flight results check box is automatically selected and the user enters the waiver code in the text box.

Cancel involuntary changes

If the traveler is unable to find a suitable alternative, or no longer wishes to travel, he/she may request a refund with penalties waived. Each airline defines its own rules for when and how refunds are allowed, including whether penalties are waived and whether refunds can be processed via Smartpoint Cloud or the Smartpoint Desktop Flight Search NDC plugin.

  1. Retrieve the booking in the graphical booking flow.

    In this example, the airline has canceled the outbound entirely and not provided a suitable alternative.

  2. Select Cancel flights.

  3. A dialog box displays indicating the original fare and tax and the refundable amount. In this case, the total amount paid is being refunded, so all penalties have been waived.

    Select Cancel and refund tickets.

    A toast message displays indicating if the cancellation was successful.

    Note: Certain airlines do not support rebooking NDC flights after flight disruption with penalties waived. If this is the case, the refundable amount will not be equal to the original fare and taxes, and a warning banner displays advising the user they need to contact the airline directly for refund without penalties. Close the Cancel and Refund window and contact the carrier for a refund request.

Important note: If all the segments in an NDC booking are canceled by the airline, no segments are added back to the booking. No banner is added, and the booking file is placed on Queue 23 for processing. Most airlines require the agent to contact the airline customer care center to assist the traveler.

Canceled held booking

In the case of a held booking that is canceled due to time-limit expiry or the cancellation of all segments without alternatives, the user must accept the change via Smartpoint Desktop or Smartpoint Cloud to remove the HX segments from the face of the booking file to history.

FAQs

Question Answer

Does this new workflow work with all NDC carriers?

 Yes, as long as the agency has the AAT table's NORM field set to Y.

What happens if my agency has not opted in for the NORM field set to Y?

The agency will continue to see the ZK (passive) segments and must follow the original airline schedule change process.

What type of disruptions are covered under the new flight disruption management flow?

Schedule changes included are flight change, departure date change, route change, flight retiming, partial or full flight cancellation without an alternative.

Can an agent modify or cancel a booking after accepting the involuntary change?

Yes, once the alternative flight is accepted, any subsequent changes will be subject to penalties according to the fare conditions.