When American Express Global Business Travel last month announced plans to go public during the first half of this year via a merger with a blank check company, it noted a set of “most relevant” publicly traded peer companies. These included the only public travel agency firm totally focused on business, Australia-based Corporate Travel Management,…
It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario as corporate travel management companies face hard decisions on staffing. When clients resume traveling, they need reliable, expert service more than ever. But with demand in doubt, how proactive can TMCs be in bringing back their people and recruiting more? It’s a question that begets more. How have agent roles been…
Sabre on Wednesday said former CWT president and CEO Kurt Ekert, who previously spent 14 years as a leader with Travelport and related organizations, would become its president as of Jan. 3. Sean Menke retains the CEO role. The move builds “a leadership team for the future of Sabre,” according to a press statement. A…
With uncharacteristic bluntness, two key providers in corporate travel this month separately identified inhibitors to progress. A Delta distribution exec urged buyers to pressure SAP Concur to get its act together. Sabre leaders criticized widely used corporate airfare policies as archaic. And it’s not just them; perhaps the pandemic is a boon for plain speaking….
Air Canada 18 years ago debuted fare families, a response to low-cost competition that set off a revolution in airline pricing. The company’s decision shortly thereafter to make some fares exclusive to its direct channels augured similar moves more than a decade later by big carriers in Europe and elsewhere. Is Montréal changing the game…
Delta Air Lines said its new dedicated biometric baggage drop at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport could shave two minutes from the curb-to-plane trek. The technology behind the facial recognition system promises a much bigger wow factor for businesses and travelers in the near future. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated global adoption of touchless interactions at…
As a percentage of airline passengers boarded globally, those who booked via global distribution systems in the years leading up to the pandemic roughly equaled those who booked directly with carriers. That changed when corporate travel all but evaporated. Leisure travelers booking on airline websites took a greater share, and the balance isn’t back. Whether…
