<B>InsideTrack</B>
<B>Malaysia Airlines Heading For Oneworld</B>
A Malaysia Airlines official told BTN the carrier expects by the end of the month to announce its intention to join the Oneworld alliance. The long-awaited decision would be a blow to the other groupings that had been courting the Kuala Lumpur-based carrier, including Delta-led SkyTeam and Swissair/Sabena. The unofficial "Wings" alliance was thought to be the frontrunner due to the existing marketing relationship Malaysia has with Northwest, but the Malaysia source said current merger talks between British Airways and Wings member KLM Royal Dutch Airlines could "tear that alliance apart." Malaysia would further boost Oneworld's presence in the Pacific rim, complementing Qantas--which reportedly is abandoning its Singapore hub in favor of Kuala Lumpur and seeking a stake in Malaysia--and Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which has very little network overlap with Malaysia. Perhaps as a precursor, Malaysia and Cathay Pacific last week came to terms on a new codeshare pact.
<B>UAL Apologizes As Delays Mount; AWA Cuts Flights</B>
United Airlines, forced to cancel thousands of flights this summer, last week released a formal apology, though about 4,000 more cancellations are planned for September and October. "We are anguished by the pain and suffering these operational difficulties are causing our customers," said president Rono Dutta. The carrier hopes to reach a tentative agreement with pilots, whose refusal to work overtime has prompted the cancellations. United, in the meantime, is tripling its available spare aircraft and increasing by four minutes both journey time and, for the first and last flights each day, ground time. Planned cancellations represent a 3 percent reduction in total flight operations. The pilots union has activated a strike committee and could execute a disruption if no agreement is reached by Labor Day.
Facing its own operational problems, America West Airlines has reduced its flight schedule. An airline official said a 3 percent reduction in available seat miles "provides more elbow room for operations and gives a better product for our salespeople to sell."
<B>Getthere Sells Most Of ATS...</B>
GetThere Inc. sold the travel agency applications of recently acquired Automated Travel Systems to Bloomington, Ind.-based Cornerstone Information Systems. Financial terms were not disclosed. GetThere will keep ATS's advanced faring engine to support its planned direct links with vendors. GetThere paid $13.5 million for ATS in late June (BTN, June 26). "With ATS' QCX travel management solution and the ResFax and ResMail document delivery solutions, we will now be able to provide technology to the entire travel industry, regardless of GDS affiliation," said Mat Orrego, president of Cornerstone, which previously linked only with Galileo. Orrego said Cornerstone will keep ATS' New York-based development and support staff.
<B>...And Teams With IBM</B>
IBM is partnering with GetThere Inc. to install, by September, a pre-trip authorization feature in GetThere's Global Manager booking software, said IBM expense report solutions consulting and service practice leader Ray Curatolo. IBM recently unveiled the second release of its browser-based Expense Report Solutions product.
<B>Worldspan Automates Ticket Reissues</B>
Worldspan said "in coming months" it will offer agency subscribers automated ticket reissuing functionality, following this month's release of the same service on U.S. travel for reservation agents at participating airlines. Worldspan owners Delta, Northwest and Trans World Airlines currently are participating. Airline reissues for international travel will follow next year. The service allows agents to "instantly and accurately determine new pricing and rules necessary to reissue tickets, employing an exclusive pricing engine, agent-friendly template screens and state-of-the-art fare storage and ticketing technology." The GDS said the service is an industry first.
<B>TWA's L.A. Focus Includes New Corp. Sales Approach</B>
After securing rights for the only nonstop flights from LAX to Washington National Airport, scheduled to begin Sept. 10, Trans World Airlines has assembled a five-person "hit team" to target middle-tier corporations. Fernand Fernandez, the carrier's director of national sales and corporate business development, said, "There will be incentive agreements and commission structures established on a specific basis." Fernandez said city-pair-specific pricing is one approach under evaluation and that local sales reps will be "empowered to negotiate and change contracts directly.