Everybody Wants The Elusive Unmanaged Business Traveler
AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee, an NDC supporter, sounded exasperated on his company’s May 16 webinar. He wanted to acknowledge the gaps in American Airlines’ NDC implementation without giving undue fodder to its skeptics. The challenges with NDC were not trivial, but in Klee’s view, throwing out the baby…
Judge Nixes JetBlue Claim It Needed AA To Compete In Corporate
In mid-2020, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told Wall Street analysts that lacking a global network made it hard to compete for corporate accounts, and that a new partnership with American Airlines would remedy that. A federal judge on Friday dismissed Hayes’ argument, among others, finding the partnership violated…
United Curbs Negotiations, Reworks Contracts
United Airlines recently upended its corporate rate negotiations, in some cases scaling back offers to corporate accounts late in the dealmaking process. “What we saw with top clients in the past few weeks was that United has decided to reduce discounts,” said Advito global air practice director David…
American Airlines Terms On Distribution Cost Shift Prompt Pushback
Some travel management company representatives are unhappy with revisions to American Airlines’ ARC agreement addendum that set conditions for fees charged to their clients on bookings with the airline. Some TMCs have told clients they would need to charge higher fees on NDC bookings to cover reduced productivity…
Ninety-Nine (NDC) Problems And The Tweaks Aren’t Done
Airline officials and other proponents of the New Distribution Capability have described its servicing challenges as “edge cases,” but travel management companies are finding more than that. Limitations on exchanges and unused ticket tracking are the most crucial on growing lists of issues. It’s no wonder that, by…
Stepping Back From Abyss, Toronto Travel Management Company Tripped Up By NDC
“I’m gravely concerned.” Jeffrey Verman’s 26-year-old travel agency has been through multiple crises. The hit he expects from NDC-enabled airline programs is extra bitter, coming as it will from business partners rather than a virus or terrorist. “I survived 9/11, SARS, recessions, wars,” said Verman, CEO of Toronto-based…
Looking To Meet An Acute Need, ASTA Creates Corporate Travel Agent Training
The American Society of Travel Advisors this month plans to offer training for those interested in the corporate travel agency environment. ASTA SVP of industry affairs and education Mark Meader called it a “missing component in the industry today.” Travel management companies do their own training, but the…
It’s Settled: Pandemic Erased Roughly One-Fourth Of Business Travel
Three-quarters of a huge industry is a huge industry. With messy year-over-omicron first-quarter comparisons behind it, corporate travel has settled in to its traditional single-digit percentage growth pattern and is now at about 75 percent of its pre-pandemic self. It’s been there for most of 2023. American Express…
‘Not A Friend’ Of The Travel Manager: AA Turns Another Screw With Auto-Rebooking Ban
“Corporate customers object to American Airlines decision.” Is this even news anymore? This week’s disclosure that the carrier will crack down on automated rebooking when fares drop casts uncertainty over a spend management practice widely used by corporates and travel management companies. On May 1, AA published revised…