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 Frangeul during a phone interview last week….
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 and GDS incentive revenue. Precedents for this…
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 most accounts, corporate adoption of American’s NDC…
“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 agreements governing travel agency relationships, with updated…
“Blended” travel at American Airlines is trending down and approaching its historical level, potentially undermining one element of a narrative about why the company changed just about everything it does with the managed corporate travel market. Some of its arguments about how the market has changed met with skepticism. That doesn’t mean it’s going to…
More than half of travel buyers surveyed by the Global Business Travel Association this month said some airlines were rolling out programs using the New Distribution Capability “too quickly.” Four in five said they needed more info and education about NDC. Sixty percent of the 277 polled buyers said they did not support the approach…
With the New Distribution Capability, Air Canada wants to have and eat its cake. During a Tuesday press briefing, executives took pains to distance themselves from the approaches of some other airlines, most recently American, and the resulting criticisms for forcing distribution change. Their words were paradoxical. Air Canada execs want a “smooth transition” that’s…
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