In its opposition to proposed U.S. federal protections for air travelers, IATA last month said passengers could “take their loyalty to other carriers if they are not satisfied with service levels.” In corporate travel, this is more theory than practice. While compensation for inconvenience would be nice, individual business travelers with options tend to favor…
Corporate contracts are changing at American Airlines and United Airlines. What’s going on with the value proposition on each side of the table? Industry veteran David Jaqua, an expert on corporate air travel data and former leader at Prism Group, acquired by Sabre in 2012, advocates for tried-and-true practices filtered through the lens of today’s…
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…
Some corporate travel programs are blocking American Airlines now that the carrier has removed many fares from traditional third-party distribution channels. Observations like this one from SAP Concur align with anecdotes from several corporate buyers who are reacting to both the distribution move and AA’s overall de-emphasis of the corporate market. But preventing travelers from…
Are American and Southwest switching places? No, the low-fare flag bearer isn’t going global, adding business class or assigning seats. But in some critical ways for the corporate market, Southwest is behaving more like its crosstown rival, while that rival is moving in the other direction. As it does for Delta and United, American’s strategy…
What should travel managers tell company employees about the distribution changes American Airlines is making? As one communicator who works in the weeds of airline distribution said, it’s clear as mud. But there’s only so much that travelers need to know. A few travel managers offered some ideas, but for the most part, crafting a…
United Airlines is asking corporate clients to help grow loyalty program membership as part of its new contracting process. “Because we do value our frequent flyer program, it is a consideration when we look at other things we might give that corporation, whether it be discounts, Jetstream [soft-dollar] funds or other things they want in…
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