ARC marked its 40th anniversary in 2025, a defining milestone for the company and the air travel industry. The celebration offered a chance to look back on ARC’s origins and reflect on four decades that have helped build a secure and resilient travel ecosystem.
Throughout the year, ARC highlighted the strength of relationships with airlines, travel agencies and industry partners. Those partnerships have been central to the evolution of airline retailing. ARC participated in major industry events and shared product improvements and milestones that reflected where the company started and where it is headed.
Modernizing airline retailing
ARC worked tirelessly in 2025 to support modern airline retailing. As the industry prepared for this next era, ARC helped build a collaborative framework that will foster innovation and trust across airlines, agencies and technology providers.
The NDC Advancement Working Group brought together airlines, GDSs, agencies, consolidators and technology providers.
The ARC NDC Advancement Working Group continued to make NDC adoption more accessible throughout the year. In June, the group released version 1.1 of its NDC Best Practices Guide with updated recommendations designed to reduce friction and support consistent adoption across the industry. The latest version offers clearer guidance on servicing workflows, data exchange and performance expectations. This update marked another step toward a more aligned and predictable NDC environment that enables growth in the NDC channel.
NDC transactions represented around one-fifth of total ARC-settled transactions throughout the year, a clear sign of continued progress compared to previous years.
Industry engagement was paramount to supporting this modern airline retailing environment. At corporate travel forums, ARC executives explored shifting business travel demand, evolving buyer needs and the broader push toward modernization in ticketing and payments. ARC hosted its ARC Payments Forum, bringing together airlines, agencies and payment providers to explore flexible payment options, settlement modernization and fraud prevention. ARC’s fraud prevention webinars added another avenue for education and awareness, giving agencies and partners practical guidance to reduce risk. Together, these events reinforced the value of open dialogue and shared responsibility in shaping the future of air travel retail.
Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) President & CEO Lauri Reishus joins panelists Jess Petitt and Rose Stratford at the GBTA Convention Industry Economic Panel moderated by Mehreen Khan.
ARC remained active across a wide range of other industry touchpoints, including its Travel Executive Council and participation in global aviation events such as the GBTA Convention, T2RL, World Aviation Festival and the Skift Aviation Forum. These engagements helped strengthen alignment across the ecosystem. ARC had a consistent presence through webinars, industry forums and additional working groups to ensure continuous collaboration with partners.
Innovation in product, services and data tools
There were multiple milestones in 2025 that marked significant improvements to how ARC conducts business. ARC launched Expedited Reporting in January, giving agencies faster and more predictable access to settlement data while improving reconciliation and cash flow visibility. In July, ARC implemented multi-factor authentication behind My ARC, increasing account protection and strengthening access controls. That momentum continued in November, with the completion of Multiple Forms of Payment (MFOP), which enables up to three unique forms of payment on a single transaction and creates a foundation for broader payment flexibility across airlines and GDSs.
ARC enhanced its data tools with the launch of Agency Insights on its Discovery Point platform. By developing this capability in-house, ARC gained greater control and efficiency in delivering meaningful data insights to agency partners to empower them with actionable and strategic information.
ARC also introduced a modern airline retailing webpage that brings together its work in ARC Direct Connect to offer a clear view of how ARC is supporting the next generation of airline retailing and settlement.
People behind the progress
None of these achievements, including record monthly travel agency sales, rising NDC adoption, airline retailing modernization or new data tools would be possible without the dedication of ARC’s employees. Throughout the anniversary year, ARC acknowledged the contributions of employees across every sector of its organization. Their work drives ARC’s impact every day and supports the organization’s ability to deliver on promises to airlines, agencies, our partners and, ultimately, travelers.
Charting the path forward
As ARC moves beyond its milestone year, the insights gathered from partner conversations, events, and new products and services will help shape ARC’s 2026 priorities. ARC’s 40th anniversary was a testament to how collaboration, adaptability and commitment to innovation can strengthen the air travel ecosystem. With increasing agency sales, growing NDC adoption and ongoing industry engagement, ARC is positioned to help lead the industry into the modern airline retailing world.