When crude oil prices in 2008 peaked at around $140 a barrel, then-Continental Airlines president Jeff Smisek said oil and gas clients were “living large and flying all around the world up front and spending money like drunken sailors.” The global financial recession shortly thereafter hit prices hard, but oil rebounded to more than $100…
[UPDATE, Sept. 12, 2016: Channel 4 Dispatches on British television in spring 2016 leveled some related accusations. Channel 4 included a Flight Centre response saying the “Dispatches’ allegation that Flight Centre has a policy or culture of applying opportunistic or excessive margins to particular customers or demographics is completely unfounded.” The travel company, though, acknowledged the…
Nothing important gets done without executive buy-in, but what if no one in the C-suite is listening? That’s the conundrum facing some professionals as they try to establish robust travel risk management programs. When regulations or the news don’t get executives’ attention, experts advise giving them something tangible. “People who have never experienced a crisis don’t often see that…
Duty of care is a top priority for travel managers, and doing it right means complying with all local rules where employees travel. Legislation and labor codes with travel safety provisions exist in several countries, including China, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom and parts of Australia. More are set to take effect this year…
American Express Global Business Travel is planning a new client database that could change how booking tools, agents and mobile devices connect. Benefits would include a more consistent traveler experience and improved travel disruption management. This repository of client policies and preferences is the top priority in a tech vision that the company expects to…
Small business programs can help companies without negotiating clout get something from travel suppliers in return for their business. But like anything else, they’re vulnerable to fraud if no one is minding the store. That’s the situation at shipbuilder Austal. A defense contractor with a U.S. base of operations in Mobile, Ala., the company last year…
[UPDATE, April 8, 2016: We published new information related to this article here.] Disintermediation of distributors gets a lot of attention, but the corporate travel profession also has doomsayers. Fears abound on outsourcing, realignment to procurement, generational challenges and technological change. Mobile computing has disempowered corporate policies and mechanisms of all sorts. Industry discourse has…
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