When Lufthansa Group in mid-2015 informed the market of a new distribution strategy, one stated objective was to lower associated costs. The company expects to prove wrong the skeptics and start achieving that by the end of 2018. Lufthansa’s financial reporting does not offer enough detail to completely validate progress, but there are indicators of short-term pain for… Read More »
BCD Travel last month alerted clients to a formalized program that charges them extra for supplier bookings which are more costly to support, joining rivals American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. According to multiple sources, BCD Travel identifies such reservations as including those that must be booked or serviced outside global distribution systems. Also covered by the… Read More »
Today’s advisor is travel management veteran Andy Menkes of Partnership Travel Consulting. He writes that while data from travel management companies has improved over the years, travel program managers must do their due diligence. That means plugging gaps and checking everything. President Ronald Reagan made the phrase “trust, but verify” famous in the United States back in the… Read More »
The news that an activist investor took a stake in Travelport to push a possible sale of the company has analysts, consultants and industry leaders speculating about the possibilities. Could the GDS be broken up and sold to its two Western rivals? What about keeping it whole and selling to China-based TravelSky? Is there a wild-card buyer out… Read More »
Delta’s public support for the International Air Transport Association’s New Distribution Capability is relatively tepid. That doesn’t mean it’s not exploring alternatives to traditional connectivity. In a Tuesday interview, officials discussed their focus on application programming interfaces and a clear desire to assume control over the “offer.” Shifting that control to airlines from global distribution systems may be… Read More »
Evercore ISI analysts are bullish on Amadeus. They like the strength of its airline IT business and expect the company to continue growing share on the GDS side. Evercore in a research report issued Jan. 4 raised its Amadeus outlook to “outperform” from “in line.” Amadeus’ gains would be losses for Sabre and Travelport, both downgraded by Evercore… Read More »
With many travel management companies accepting the IAG airlines’ private channel GDS deals, which are left out? Industry experts see the “have-nots” facing ruin or consolidation. The puzzling part is, why would British Airways and Iberia want that? Posed to a BA press official, that question was not answered. International Airlines Group has declined multiple requests over the… Read More »