He said departments, with support from GDS, were "all building their own mini GDSs".
Some low-cost carriers, such as easyJet, which had at first refused to use GDSs have relented.
O'Leary said: "I am the person who for 10 years said over my dead body will we go back on GDSs.
The GDSs could make use of such services, so as to sell the airlines' full range of extras as well as just flights.
To get any traction with this, the carriers are having to revert to paying agents commission though less than they pay the GDSs.
An investigation into the GDSs by America's Department of Justice is quietly ticking over, and the European Commission is reviewing its code of conduct for them.
Meanwhile, two of America's big carriers have taken GDSs to court over the tactics they use to maintain their hold over travel agents.
So far agents have mostly stuck with the GDSs: rebuilding their IT systems to make direct connections to airlines is expensive, and their contracts with GDSs may make it costly too.The search is onHoping to solve these problems, the airlines' international association, IATA, is working on a grandly titled "new distribution capability".
American Airlines and others want to bypass the GDSs and have the travel websites link directly to the airlines' own reservation systems to save cost, but for the travel websites it would be more convenient if the airlines all kept providing reservations via the GDSs.Europe is a more complex market than America so the GDSs are even more important there.
Even then, admits Gary Doernhoefer, an IATA official, the GDSs' grip on the industry may not change much without regulatory action to unpick their cosy agreements with travel agents.Regulators are indeed looking into the issue.
Air France is good at selling its flights directly to customers in France, because it is the best known and most popular brand, but it needs the GDSs to bring in business from travellers in Britain.
