Phoenix - US Airways president Scott Kirby last week during the company's first-quarter earnings call said the carrier's Choice Seats product has become "a big revenue line," on track to garner $100 million in 2013. That projection is modest, Kirby told BTN, as it assumes revenue only from current distribution channels, a list that is expanding. US Airways last week announced that Fareportal, an e-commerce company that operates online travel agency CheapOair.com, began selling the product as per the carrier's distribution agreement with Sabre. Kirby last week sat down with BTN senior editor Jay Boehmer during a US Airways media event here to discuss corporate relationships and distribution.

However nimble a corporate travel program might be, changes to its culture inevitably occur more slowly than did the rapid, massive embrace by business travelers of mobile technology. With smartphones ubiquitous and tablets rapidly gaining in popularity, corporations have had no choice but to at least consider the impact of mobile services on their travel programs, but no consensus has been reached on the proper role of mobile technology.

Cornerstone Information Systems on Tuesday announced the hiring of former Prime Numbers Technology president Rock Blanco as vice president for product innovation and marketing. Two days later, Boston-area travel management company Atlas Travel revealed it would move Prime Numbers and its Travel GPA data reporting solution into an "umbrella" company, alongside the TMC, called Atlas Travel & Technology Group.

JetBlue Airways plans to launch next year a premium product on transcontinental services connecting New York and Boston to San Francisco and the Los Angeles area, chief commercial officer Robin Hayes said Wednesday during a meeting with Wall Street analysts and media.