ATPCO traces its history to a tariff department the Air Traffic Conference of America set up in 1945 to file domestic fares with the US government. Its predecessor, Airline Tariff Publishers, Inc., was founded in 1965. The company took the name ATPCO in 1975. It is based in Herndon in Virginia and says it is owned by airlines.

What it does

• Collects airline data. ATPCO describes itself as a data company. It collects each airline’s fare and fare-related data, which it lists as prices, policies, fees, taxes, ancillaries, baggage and merchandising content.

• Distributes it. It says this data lets travel agents, airlines, GDSs and other sales channels sell tickets to the public, whether they use EDIFACT or NDC messaging. It says it serves 457 airlines and 118 channels in 148 countries.

• Structures fare rules. It sorts airline fare rules into 32 numbered categories, such as category 5 for advance reservations and ticketing and category 16 for penalties.

Before the digital age, ATPCO printed fares, rules and routes in large bound books. In 2022 it gave its collection of 1,588 volumes to the US Library of Congress.

Why it matters for travel businesses

ATPCO says it serves airlines, industry partners and the channels and systems that sell flights. Agents meet its numbering in airline instructions. Virgin Atlantic, for example, tells agents to check “Cat 4” of the original ticket’s fare rules when looking at other airlines for a passenger after a Virgin Atlantic flight cancellation. In ATPCO’s list, category 4 is flight application, which covers the flights and routes a fare is valid on.