Editorial
A subcommittee of The Company Dime‘s Buyers Council, the Editorial Board is charged with reviewing ideas and Op Ed columns submitted for consideration by outside contributors, suggesting topics and collaboratively writing viewpoints of its own. Current members are Suzanne Boyan, Pedro Ceron, Kelly Christner, Nicole Del Sesto, Steven Mandelbaum and Brad Seitz.
Editorial: Content, Clarity, Calm And A Little Respect Top Travel Manager Wish List
Here’s a compilation of thoughts from members of The Company Dime‘s Editorial Board of six travel buyers. The last three years put everyone to the test. It’s not that we don’t enjoy challenges; we thrive on them. But it’s time to focus on the future and do what we do best. Enough firefighting and bickering. …
Op Ed
In their Op Eds, industry leaders contribute commentary for publication to the business travel audience outside our paywall. We task these contributors to focus on opinion, analysis and education rather than marketing. We do not accept payment for submissions. Since starting this program in 2018, we’ve published more than 100 Op Eds by dozens of guest authors. You are encouraged to contribute to the dialogue by commenting on posts. Want to go a step further and become a contributor? Email us for more details. There is no charge for participation, but it does come with some requirements. Thanks to all our authors!
Op Ed: David Jaqua On What’s Ahead For Corporate Airline Contracts
Corporate contracts are changing at American Airlines and United Airlines. What’s going on with the value proposition on each side of the table? Industry veteran David Jaqua, an expert on corporate air travel data and former leader at Prism Group, acquired by Sabre in 2012, advocates for tried-and-true practices filtered through the lens of today’s…
Op Ed: Mike McCormick On Misconceptions, Trends And The Canary In The Coal Mine
For former Global Business Travel Association executive director and veteran corporate travel executive Mike McCormick, there’s no fighting the changes travel management now faces and no avoiding uncertainty. The American Airlines NDC-powered pricing mandate beginning now is signaling a major inflection point in the travel industry. It is the canary in the coal mine. However,…
Op Ed: Julian Moro Of International SOS On Duty Of Care In Ukraine And Beyond
Every crisis offers lessons and the war in Ukraine is no exception. Overlapping emergencies especially put critical event managers to the test and expose program deficiencies. Julian Moro, an SVP and regional security director at International SOS, shares gaps observed during the past few years and ways to improve corporate duty of care. Just over…
Op Ed: Martin Warner On NDC Readiness And The Economic Impact
Former CWT executive Martin Warner, of late a consultant to various players in corporate travel, knows as well as anyone the impact that distribution changes have on travel management economics. Here he reminds us that’s an unresolved issue with NDC. The recent article in The Company Dime on “readiness” for NDC was an excellent summary…
Op Ed: Bryan Holmes On Upgrading Your TMC RFP By Thinking Slow
Intuition rather than analysis can lead buyers astray, according to Bryan Holmes. The founder of Bid Logic Solutions provides a few examples of how this manifests during a travel management company sourcing project and describes a more measured approach. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the…
Op Ed: Jeff Klee On What We Lose When We Put Sustainability Before Travel
AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee is getting frustrated by tokenism and perfunctory action when it comes to sustainability and corporate travel. On the 2022 business travel conference circuit, sustainability and purposeful travel were all the rage. Panelists at events large and small touted the urgency to reduce travel and, with it, carbon emissions. Given the chorus…
Op Ed: Tony D’Astolfo On NDC And Dominus Vobiscum
Following his intimate involvement in an award-winning NDC corporate travel program, Tony D’Astolfo of Serko, in his unique way, spotlights one of the unsolved issues: the economics. Many have debated whether airline distribution evolution is mainly about the technology or the money. Both matter. They say you should never talk politics or religion. These days…
Op Ed: Claire Langford On How Expanded Risk Offers Opportunities To Improve Duty Of Care
One of the pandemic’s silver linings has been greater awareness of and attention to corporate duty of care. According to Claire Langford, a veteran travel buyer and former TMC program manager now with CoreTrust Purchasing Group, organizations taking a broader view of employee wellbeing can not only mitigate risk, but also improve recruiting and retention….
Op Ed: CWT’s Pauline Robin On The Pitfalls Of Chainwide Hotel Deals
Pauline Robin of CWT RoomIt shares data that prompts questions about whether travel managers achieve their goals using chainwide hotel deals. Chainwide deals represent an integral part of a company’s hotel program. They supplement uniquely negotiated, core hotels as corporations aim to get the best possible savings and coverage while delivering sufficient breadth to support…