Investment firm Henry Inc. last month signed a letter of intent with Verified Identity Pass and its primary debt holder, Morgan Stanley, to purchase some "assets and liabilities" of the dominant Registered Traveler provider, which abruptly folded this summer and took much of the industry down with it. Since VIP, which operated the Clear program at 18 of the 21 airports in the United States that hosted Registered Traveler lanes, halted operations, one of its competitors, Vigilant Solutions, also folded, and the sole survivor, Flo Corp., suspended operations at the only airport where it operated
(BTNonline, July 27). None of those operations has yet to resume, though Flo Corp. principal and managing partner Fred Fischer in congressional testimony on Sept. 30 said the firm "has secured significant financing since Clear's failure and plans to relaunch a national program, with or without the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, at multiple airports in the next 30 days, with former RT airports and others eagerly awaiting relaunch of the program." Airports slated to relaunch were not disclosed. Without TSA support, "it was only a matter of time before service providers ran into trouble," said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), noting, "TSA has never embraced the RT program, though Congress intends for the Registered Traveler program to move forward."
IATA Ups Annual Airline Loss Forecast To $11 BillionGlobal airlines are on pace to lose $11 billion in 2009 amid declining passenger numbers, decimated yields and fuel costs that have crept back upward, the International Air Transport Association said in its latest financial forecast last month. IATA's updated projection plunges the industry $2 billion deeper in the red than its previous forecast, released in June. Though IATA noted some improvement in passenger volumes as the year wore on—from a low of negative 11 percent in March—the airline association projected that overall passenger traffic this year would decline 4 percent. However, deeply discounted fares and depressed premium demand put airline yields on pace to fall 12 percent. As such, airline revenue is expected to fall 15 percent, or $80 billion, IATA projected. IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said, "We are in intensive care, and the crisis for us is not over."
Preferred Hotel Group Readies Midprice RevampPreferred Hotel Group—a company that provides sales, marketing and technology support to independent hotels around the globe—is relaunching its midprice Sterling Hotels brand over the next few months, the company said. The relaunch will include a new directory, Web site and a sub-brand: Sterling Design, which will feature hotels with contemporary design flourishes. Sterling is one of Preferred's brands that is marketed in particular to corporate travel buyers.
Starwood To Accelerate Aloft DevelopmentStarwood Hotels & Resorts this month said it plans to double the pace of openings for its select-service Aloft brand, opening one hotel per week in North America during October. "Even in a tough economy, owners and developers have embraced the Aloft hotel concept in North America and beyond," said Paul Sacco, Starwood's senior vice president of development in North America. "By the end of the year, we will have opened 40 Aloft hotels worldwide." Upcoming Aloft openings include properties in Charlotte, N.C.; Mount Laurel, N.J.; Bolingbrook, Ill.; and Phoenix.