Hannigan Takes Sabre Helm

<B>Hannigan Takes Sabre Helm</B>

Soon-to-be-independent Sabre Holdings Corp. kicked off the millennium with a new president and CEO, naming William Hannigan to the post vacated by Michael Durham in September.

Hannigan moved into the corner office on Dec. 15, the same day Sabre announced its long-awaited spin-off from AMR Corp.

The 40-year-old Hannigan is a newcomer to the travel industry, but has spent half his life in technology. He hails from Southwestern Bell, where he was president of SBC Global Markets. Before that, he was Sprint Corp.'s vice president of engineering and applications support.

AMR chairman Don Carty said that having a "world-class information technology services executive" at the Sabre helm "makes this the right time" for a spin-off, creating "two pure play companies that can focus on their core competencies--AMR on transportation and Sabre on information technology services."

Industry insiders for some time had suggested that having 83 percent of its stock owned by American Airlines' parent company hindered Sabre's ability to win lucrative technology outsourcing contracts from other carriers (<I>BTN</I>, Oct. 25, 1999). Independence also frees it from DOT regulations concerning contracts and screen displays designed to give non-GDS-owning carriers equal footing with customers.

The spin-off, which is awaiting government approval but expected to be completed this quarter, actually will be Sabre's second step toward independence. It was first spun off from American Airlines in October 1996, when AMR sold 18 percent of the company--the first time GDS shares were opened to owners who were not airlines (<I>BTN</I>, Nov. 4, 1996).

As part of the deal this time, AA extended its contract with Sabre for two additional years, to 2008, and agreed to move prices up to fair market value. Sabre also is now free to sell scheduling, yield management and pricing software it developed for AA to other carriers.