Comments On UA-US Airways Codeshare Due ThursdayThe U.S. Department of Transportation has invited the public to comment by Aug. 15 on the codeshare agreement reached between United Airlines and US Airways. DOT plans to conduct an informal review but, due to public interest, will allow outside parties to submit comments that "may assist us" in determining whether to open further proceedings or whether the agreement presents "serious issues" of unfair competition. DOT has until Aug. 23 to complete its initial review or extend it by up to 150 days. "If they don't say anything, it will be implemented automatically," said US Airways vice president of sales Steve Tracas. Three copies of any public comments should be sent to: Randall Bennett, Director, Office of Aviation Analysis, Room 6401, U.S. DOT, 400 7th St. SW., Washington, D.C., 20590.
UA Cuts Mtgs. Advance Purchase RequirementUnited Airlines late last week revised its standard meeting discount by cutting the lead time required for a 5 percent discount off full coach fares from 60 days to 30. The carrier's standard package allows for 5 percent off full coach fares when at least 10 attendees travel on United, and another 5 percent when booked before the advance purchase date. United manager of specialty markets JoAnn Bedrosian Ryan said the change reflects shifting meeting travel patterns. Though carriers differ on how many travelers constitute a meeting, the other majors offer 5 percent off full coach fares to attendees, with 5 percent more off for bookings made at least 60 days out.
New Galileo CEO Sees Broad Pricing ChangesGalileo International's new president and CEO, Sam Galeotos, expects any structural changes to prices the global distribution system charges vendors to have a broader impact than Sabre's recently announced plans to cut booking fees for reservations made in GetThere
(BTN, July 29). "We're looking at the bigger picture," said Galeotos, echoing the response by Worldspan. "I'm not sure how successful that initiative has been for Sabre. We're hearing mixed signals, quite frankly. We'll be looking at it across all the business." Galileo parent Cendant Corp. last week said Galeotos would replace Mark Miller, who in June announced his departure for Equifax in Atlanta. Galeotos also said Cendant continues to focus on growth through acquisition, as well as converting corporate clients to the Galileo GDS by leveraging other Cendant relationships. Galeotos was president and CEO of Cheaptickets.com before Cendant bought the company in October.
Delta Seeks Domestic Partner, Crafting Low-Fare StrategyWith the United Airlines-US Airways agreement and marketshare to protect, Delta Air Lines is on the hunt for a domestic codeshare partner. Meanwhile, the carrier last week began formalizing its new low-cost strategy by assigning senior vice president John Selvaggio to lead the effort. Delta's goal is to "compete more aggressively with low-cost carriers," such as AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest, though it already operates low-cost Delta Express on the East Coast. Details of the plan—likely to include a new product—are expected this fall. US Airways vice president of sales Steve Tracas noted the difficulty of operating a low-cost carrier within a larger, high-cost entity. "Our own MetroJet was a good example," he said. "The break-even load factor just was not achievable." US Airways dissolved MetroJet after Sept. 11.
ACTE To Examine Travel Manager RoleThe Association of Corporate Travel Executives at its Oct. 20-22 global conference in Munich, Germany, will introduce a white paper examining the strategic role of the travel manager. It follows a white paper ACTE introduced on airfare reform in April at its Montreal conference.
Southwest Turns To IBM For Large Kiosk OrderSouthwest Airlines has contracted with IBM to design, build and install more than 250 airport self-service kiosks. The carrier has begun focusing on kiosks now that it has eliminated trademark plastic boarding cards in favor of personalized paper boarding passes. The kiosks, already installed at Dallas Love Field, will be deployed at numerous Southwest airport locations. Southwest, which generates nearly half of all ticket purchases through its Web site and issues electronic tickets to 85 percent of all customers, sees kiosk deployment as a natural progression in its ticketless strategy. For its part, IBM has provided airport kiosks to several other domestic and foreign carriers. More than 2,500 such machines have been installed or are on order. Southwest said the $2 million IBM contract may expand over the next year.