American Airlines cares less for conventional corporate travel dealmaking, but that’s not working for partner British Airways. As AA cancels corporate deals or allows them to lapse — including agreements struck jointly with its key Oneworld partner — BA wants to hang onto some. It has broken from a practice the carriers followed for over…
Hailed as a solution for the challenges of fare unbundling, NDC has been in development for nine years. What does it have to show for corporate clients? A rebundled fare, theoretical savings, “whatnot” and “whatever.” Oh, and new distribution fees. “So, nothing new or innovative,” according to former Sabre executive Martin Cowley. Cowley got into…
With reaction, assessment and recovery on their minds, corporate travel professionals understandably did not focus closely on airline distribution developments this year. Inasmuch as they did, for some, it was a question of how the relevant systems could help the response to the pandemic — or not. There’s some debate about how soon the usually…
[UPDATE, May 8, 2019: British Airways and Iberia upped fees on bookings outside their preferred distribution channels to $14, 12.50 euros and £10.50, effective May 31.] British Airways and Iberia said that on Sept. 18 they would increase the surcharge applied to bookings that don’t go through “an NDC-based connection or through other low-cost channels,”…
The three major U.S. network airlines are big on providing account-specific information. This can relate to spending, contract performance, ancillary services and operational metrics. Delta Air Lines in 2014 and United Airlines last year activated self-service reporting portals. Now comes American’s. American Airlines in June unveiled a portal for travel agencies. In the fall it will test…
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…
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…
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