<B>InsideTrack</B>
<B>DOT Grants AA Immunity With Swissair/Sabena</B>
American Airlines finally caught a break in its alliance strategy when the U.S. Department of Transportation this week conditionally approved its request for antitrust immunity with the previously immunized Swissair/Sabena duo. The approval means the three carriers, each reeling from earlier international alliance collapses, can begin working jointly on a range of activities.According to DOT, American, Sabena and Swissair hold just over 13 percent of nonstop passengers on the North Atlantic. However, in order to keep competition alive and well in Chicago, DOT decided to limit its approval by disallowing coordination on fares to Brussels and Zurich--two routes where the three carriers essentially monopolize nonstop service.American has been in need of a transatlantic partnership since its immunity request with British Airways was shot down. Similarly, Swissair/Sabena acted quickly to lock up a U.S. partner after Delta jumped ship from the Atlantic Excellence partnership.
<A NAME="2"><B>E-Travel Launching B2B Marketplace</B>
E-Travel last week announced it will form a business-to-business marketplace designed to facilitate the direct purchase, fulfillment, reporting and payment of travel and meeting services. E-Travel has been building direct links to Continental Airlines, Hertz Rent-A-Car and Amtrak for its online booking system, but now will ramp up the program to include other suppliers that join the E-Travel Marketplace. Also signed on are SatoTravel, which will offer low-cost ticket fulfillment on purchases made through the marketplace, and Pegasus Systems, which will provide hotel connectivity. On the back end, the Marketplace will feature a credit facility as well as electronic fund transfer capabilities, so that buyers can pay for their purchases directly. "We are talking to a number of banks about their role in this," said president and CEO John Ackermann, "and we will have those capabilities." Insiders said GetThere.com also is working on a "major B2B marketplace initiative," and noted that GetThere's combined travel spending volume of its current clients of $10 billion in sales is nearly 10 times that of E-Travel. "What really matters in a marketplace," said one, "is how many customers you have coming to buy."
<A NAME="3"><B>Airlines Band Together In B2B Venture</B>
Six airlines last week announced plans to establish a business-to-business e-commerce portal that will link with goods and service providers. The airlines--Air France, American, British Airways, Continental, Delta and United--have yet to detail their financial investment or technology provider. Once established, the electronic marketplace will facilitate buying and selling of various supplies and services, including fuel, spare parts and maintenance, that benefit participants by lowering transaction and inventory control costs. Sabre and Ariba earlier this year announced the creation of Sabre's E-Marketplace, a similar business-to-business Internet-based venture for travel suppliers and related companies. Sabre said buyers with similar procurement needs could see savings of 10 percent to 15 percent by "strategically managing collective buying power." The development of such portals could help the airlines lower their fuel expenses, for example, which recently have plagued their bottom lines and prompted fare hikes and ticket surcharges.
<A NAME="4"><B>CO Sues United Over Baggage Sizers</B>
Continental Airlines last week filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against United Airlines and the Airline Management Council at Washington Dulles International Airport to stop anticompetitive practices stemming from newly installed baggage sizing templates on shared X-ray machines. Continental claims that the templates force all airlines to conform to a single standard for carry-on baggage size and reduce airlines' ability to attract customers with bigger overhead bins and more closet space. Continental in 1998 filed a similar suit against Delta Air Lines for placing Plexiglas sizers on shared baggage screening devices at San Diego International Airport and last year convinced United to remove the sizers on jointly operated X-ray machines at Denver International Airport.
<A NAME="5"><B>Integrated ProfitMax Buys Hi-Mark</B>
Integrated ProfitMax Corp. of Costa Mesa, Calif., has followed up its recent acquisition of travel management consulting firm Integrated Procurement Solutions with another travel industry purchase, this time data integrator Hi-Mark Software. Hi-Mark offers a suite of products for consolidating, reporting on and integrating travel data. Under the IPMax umbrella, its services will expand to include real-time management reports for areas of corporate procurement beyond just travel, said ProfitMax CEO Chris Massey.