Inside Track - 1997-01-27
GE Taps BTS For Front, Carlson For Back End
The nation's second-largest travel account, General Electric, has confirmed that it has chosen Sabre's Business Travel Solutions to provide the front end of its long-awaited automated travel system, and Carlson Wagonlit (its domestic agency) for the expense reporting piece. In addition to the technology rollout, GE in 1997 will for the first time begin outsourcing its entire T&E processing to Carlson.
Meanwhile, Sabre BTS vice president Sam Gilliland said that with pilot projects under way at a number of corporate sites, 100,000 travelers already are online with the automated booking system. The final two modules, Decision Manager and Expense Reporter, will be released before the end of this quarter; by midyear the system will be accessible over new platforms like Lotus Notes, and will offer access to "at least one other CRS." Laredo, an intranet-based version of BTS, will debut at BTN's Corporate Travel World trade show in New York in March.
Sheraton Makes Room For Business Hours
ITT Sheraton has launched a new program designed for business travelers to make rooms available for checkin as early as 9 a.m. and extend checkout to 5 p.m. The new "9 to 5" program is now available at 60 of Sheraton's upscale hotels in North America to anyone who signs up for membership in the Sheraton Club International frequent stay program. Richard Hartman, president of ITT Sheraton's North American division, said the program will not be extended to resort or convention properties, but will be available at all other U.S. Sheraton-brand hotels by the end of the second quarter.
UK Or EC To Give OK To AA-BA?
An argument between the United Kingdom and European Commission over jurisdiction may threaten the approval that American Airlines and British Airways hope to get for their proposed alliance in March. Running parallel to the AA-BA regulatory process is a no-nonsense investigation by the EC into all existing transatlantic alliances (except BA-USAir), which will result in a report-also due in March-on the competitive effects of airline alliances. While the U.K. gave preliminary approval of the alliance contingent on AA and BA giving up 168 weekly slots at Heathrow (BTN, Jan. 13), the EC is concerned about competition on routes between London and Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh and Tampa; Birmingham to Chicago and New York; and Glasgow to Boston, Chicago and New York. The EC is considering whether all such alliances are fundamentally anticompetitive. "Trying to unravel the alliances at this point would be in itself anticompetitive," said Northwest vice president of corporate and agency sales John Temple.
AA Pilots Play It Cool
Now in the so-called cooling-off period, American Airlines pilots and management have until Feb. 15 to bring their dispute to a close. If they can't, that could mean a walkout for pilots or the unfettered institution of work rules and wages by management. Reports indicate that there is a 50-50 chance of a strike. Earlier this month, AA pilots voted down a temporary agreement signed on Labor Day (BTN, Sept. 9, 1996). Gerard Arpey, CFO of AA parent AMR, said the company would be hard-pressed to issue any kind of warning to customers because negotiations could run up to the last minute. Meanwhile, United pilots and mechanics rejected contract proposals, and Continental pilots, following suit, are saying they will ask for a big raise even as negotiations just get under way. USAir is attempting to make major changes to its pilot contracts to make room for a low-cost airline.
BTCC Gains Major Interest
The Business Travel Contractors Corp. said a third major airline, in addition to Southwest and one other, will send its final bid by Jan. 31. BTCC will condense all bids for review in a Feb. 20 meeting. Members also will hear an unnamed company's idea to supply them with a BTCC jet fleet. BTCC president Kevin Mitchell said some members' annual market share on Southwest has jumped by over 130 percent; at a minimum, other members have increased their Southwest usage by 40 to 60 percent.
Together At Last
The long-awaited wedding of the Carlson and Wagonlit travel agencies is finally set for this week, following the expected blessing from the European Community. Curt Carlson, Marilyn Carlson Nelson and Gerard Pelisson, vice chairman of Wagonlit parent Accor Group, are planning to gather for a reception at the United Nations Building in New York to sign the formal merger documents and officially hand the leadership of the unified global entity to president and CEO Travis Tanner.