NP-PF-10 · Fare Audit & Compliance · Airlines Process Wiki

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Process Flow Diagram (BPMN)

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L4 Process Steps

Step	Step Name	Role / Swim Lane	System	Input	Output	KPI	Dec?	Exc?
Phase 1 1.1	Extract ATPCO fare inventory snapshot	Fare Audit Analyst	ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company) database	Scheduled audit cycle trigger (daily or weekly batch)	Raw fare filing extract — basis codes, amounts, effective dates, markets	Data extract completeness ≥99.5% of active fare records	N	N
1.2	Validate fare basis codes against tariff rules	Fare Audit Analyst	ATPCO Rules Editor	Raw fare filing extract	Fare basis code validation report — matched, mismatched, and missing entries	Validation processing time <2 hrs per 10,000 fare records; error detection rate ≥98%	N	N
1.3	Cross-check fare coverage against active route inventory	Pricing Systems Analyst	Amadeus SkyWORKS	Fare basis validation report, active route and schedule inventory from SkyWORKS	Market coverage gap report — routes with missing or expired filed fares	Market coverage completeness ≥98% of active O&D pairs with valid filed fares	Y	N
Phase 2 2.1	Apply IATA fare construction and combinability rules	Revenue Standards Analyst	Sabre AirVision Pricing (Sabre Fares)	Validated fare extract from Phase 1	Combinability violation log — fares failing IATA Resolution 722 checks	Fare construction error rate <0.5% of total filed fares per audit cycle	N	N
2.2	Validate routing and stopover rule compliance	Revenue Standards Analyst	ATPCO Automated Pricing	Combinability violation log	Routing compliance assessment — Category 3/4 rule adherence per fare	Routing rule compliance rate ≥99.2% of fare records processed	Y	Y
2.3	Check tax and surcharge applicability per market	Tax Compliance Analyst	Vertex Tax Engine / ATPCO Tax Filing	Fare records by O&D pair, current tax table extract	Tax applicability matrix — correct YQ/YR/ZP codes and amounts per market	Tax calculation accuracy ≥99.9%; YQ/YR surcharge compliance 100% within 2 hrs of ATPCO tax update	N	N
2.4	Validate NUC and local-currency conversion compliance	Fare Audit Analyst	ATPCO / IATA BSP Rate of Exchange (ROE) tables	International fare records, current IATA ROE monthly publication	Currency compliance report — fares breaching local-currency price caps or ROE thresholds	NUC conversion error rate <0.1% of international fare records; local-currency price cap breach detection within 48 hrs of IATA ROE update	N	Y
Phase 3 3.1	Audit GDS-distributed fares against ATPCO filed records	Distribution Compliance Analyst	Sabre GDS / Travelport GDS / Amadeus GDS	ATPCO fare extract, real-time GDS fare availability feeds across all three GDS	GDS parity audit report — mismatched fares, stale cache entries, missing availability	GDS fare parity compliance ≥99.5% of sampled fare records across all three GDS channels	Y	Y
3.2	Verify NDC channel fare parity vs. filed fares	Digital Channels Analyst	NDC API Gateway / Airline Direct Connect	Filed ATPCO fares, real-time NDC channel pricing API responses	NDC parity deviation report — fares where NDC pricing diverges from GDS/ATPCO	NDC–GDS price parity within ±$5 for equivalent fare conditions; parity deviations resolved within 24 hrs	N	Y
3.3	Check interline fare settlement compliance via IATA BSP	Interline Revenue Analyst	IATA BSP / IATA CASS	Interline ticketing data, jointly filed ATPCO fares, partner proration agreements	BSP settlement compliance report — disputed interline fares and proration variances	Interline proration error rate <0.3%; BSP reconciliation variance within ±0.1% of billed amount	Y	Y
Phase 4 4.1	Log and categorise fare violations by severity	Fare Compliance Manager	AWS S3 / Jira (compliance ticketing)	GDS parity report, routing compliance assessment, tax matrix, NDC deviation report, BSP settlement report	Violation register — all issues categorised Critical / High / Low with revenue impact estimate	Violation triage completion within 4 hrs of audit run; critical issues escalated within 30 min of detection	N	N
4.2	Escalate critical violations to Director of Pricing	Fare Compliance Manager	Jira / Microsoft Teams workflow	Violation register — Critical severity entries with revenue impact >$10,000	Correction order — approved refile instruction or GDS cache flush request	Critical violation resolution SLA ≤4 hrs from detection to correction order issued	Y	N
4.3	Refile corrected fares to ATPCO	Tariff Analyst	ATPCO Rules Editor	Approved correction order, original fare record reference	ATPCO refile confirmation with effective date/time and filing receipt	ATPCO refile processing time ≤2 hrs (standard) / ≤30 min (emergency filing window)	N	Y
4.4	Flush GDS cache and verify re-distributed fare accuracy	Distribution Compliance Analyst	Sabre GDS API / Travelport Universal API / Amadeus Web Services	ATPCO refile confirmation	GDS cache flush confirmation; post-flush spot-check audit report	Post-flush fare parity restoration within 2 hrs across all three GDS; spot-check sample ≥50 O&D pairs per GDS	Y	Y
Phase 5 5.1	Generate monthly compliance audit report with trend analysis	Revenue Analytics Manager	Tableau / AWS Redshift	Violation register, resolution log, GDS parity data, tax compliance matrix, BSP settlement data	Monthly fare audit compliance report — violation counts, resolution rates, revenue impact, MoM trend charts	Report delivered by 5th business day of following month; violation trend growth ≤2% MoM	N	N
5.2	Archive audit trail for DOT and IATA regulatory review	Compliance Archivist	AWS S3 (encrypted archive) / SAP S/4HANA Finance document management	Audit report, violation register, ATPCO refile confirmations, correction orders, GDS flush receipts	Regulatory-grade audit archive with 7-year retention per DOT/IATA requirements	Archive completeness 100%; document retrieval SLA ≤48 hrs for regulatory or legal requests	N	N
5.3	Review audit KPIs in pricing governance committee	Director of Pricing / VP Revenue Management	Tableau / Microsoft Teams	Monthly fare audit compliance report, open violation backlog, action items from prior period	Approved corrective action plan; updated audit frequency thresholds for high-risk markets	Governance review completed within 10 business days of report delivery; 100% of action items assigned with named owner and due date	Y	N

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Process Attributes

Identification

Process IDNP-PF-10

L1 DomainNetwork Planning & Scheduling

L2 ProcessPricing & Fare Management

L3 NameFare Audit & Compliance

L4 Steps17 across 5 phases

Decision Gates7 (all with iteration loops)

Exceptions7 documented

Swim Lanes (Roles)

Fare Audit Analyst

Pricing Systems Analyst

Revenue Standards Analyst

Tax Compliance Analyst

Distribution Compliance Analyst

Digital Channels Analyst

Interline Revenue Analyst

Fare Compliance Manager

Tariff Analyst

Revenue Analytics Manager

Compliance Archivist

Director of Pricing / VP Revenue Management

Systems & Tools

ATPCO (Airline Tariff Publishing Company) databaseATPCO Rules EditorAmadeus SkyWORKSSabre AirVision Pricing (Sabre Fares)ATPCO Automated PricingVertex Tax Engine / ATPCO Tax FilingATPCO / IATA BSP Rate of Exchange (ROE) tablesSabre GDS / Travelport GDS / Amadeus GDSNDC API Gateway / Airline Direct ConnectIATA BSP / IATA CASSAWS S3 / Jira (compliance ticketing)Jira / Microsoft Teams workflowSabre GDS API / Travelport Universal API / Amadeus Web ServicesTableau / AWS RedshiftAWS S3 (encrypted archive) / SAP S/4HANA Finance document managementTableau / Microsoft Teams

Key Performance Indicators

Extract ATPCO fare inventory snapshotData extract completeness ≥99.5% of active fare records

Validate fare basis codes against tariff rulesValidation processing time <2 hrs per 10,000 fare records; error detection rate ≥98%

Cross-check fare coverage against active route inventoryMarket coverage completeness ≥98% of active O&D pairs with valid filed fares

Apply IATA fare construction and combinability rulesFare construction error rate <0.5% of total filed fares per audit cycle

Validate routing and stopover rule complianceRouting rule compliance rate ≥99.2% of fare records processed

Check tax and surcharge applicability per marketTax calculation accuracy ≥99.9%; YQ/YR surcharge compliance 100% within 2 hrs of ATPCO tax update

Validate NUC and local-currency conversion complianceNUC conversion error rate <0.1% of international fare records; local-currency price cap breach detection within 48 hrs of IATA ROE update

Audit GDS-distributed fares against ATPCO filed recordsGDS fare parity compliance ≥99.5% of sampled fare records across all three GDS channels

Airline-Specific Risks & Pain Points

ATPCO batch updates carry a 4–6 hr lag before GDS distribution; auditing a stale snapshot generates false-positive violations and wastes analyst investigation time

Airlines with complex fare families (50+ basis codes per market) generate thousands of rule combinations; automated rule parsing frequently misinterprets footnote exceptions (ATPCO Category 15/25) requiring manual override

New routes activated in SkyWORKS may lack corresponding ATPCO filings within the required 24-hr effective-date window, causing inventory to distribute without valid fares and triggering GDS pricing errors

IATA Resolution 722 combinability rules for international itineraries interact unpredictably with carrier-specific footnotes in multi-carrier routings, producing false-positive violations that require manual SME adjudication

Legacy routing rule structures in ATPCO Category 3 (Combinations) and Category 4 (Flight Application) produce ambiguous interpretations when codeshare partners operate a segment, leading to disputed ticketing and potential BSP billing errors

Fuel surcharge (YQ) and carrier-imposed fee (YR) changes in volatile fuel markets require weekly ATPCO refile cycles; GDS distribution lag of 2–8 hrs post-change causes live mispricing and potential DOT consumer-protection violations (14 CFR Part 399)

Inputs / Outputs

Primary InputScheduled audit cycle trigger (daily or weekly batch)

Primary OutputApproved corrective action plan; updated audit frequency thresholds for high-risk markets

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