GBTA To Launch French Association

Phoenix - US Airways president Scott Kirby last week during the company's first-quarter earnings call said the carrier's Choice Seats product has become "a big revenue line," on track to garner $100 million in 2013. That projection is modest, Kirby told BTN, as it assumes revenue only from current distribution channels, a list that is expanding. US Airways last week announced that Fareportal, an e-commerce company that operates online travel agency CheapOair.com, began selling the product as per the carrier's distribution agreement with Sabre. Kirby last week sat down with BTN senior editor Jay Boehmer during a US Airways media event here to discuss corporate relationships and distribution.

However nimble a corporate travel program might be, changes to its culture inevitably occur more slowly than did the rapid, massive embrace by business travelers of mobile technology. With smartphones ubiquitous and tablets rapidly gaining in popularity, corporations have had no choice but to at least consider the impact of mobile services on their travel programs, but no consensus has been reached on the proper role of mobile technology.

Cornerstone Information Systems on Tuesday announced the hiring of former Prime Numbers Technology president Rock Blanco as vice president for product innovation and marketing. Two days later, Boston-area travel management company Atlas Travel revealed it would move Prime Numbers and its Travel GPA data reporting solution into an "umbrella" company, alongside the TMC, called Atlas Travel & Technology Group.

JetBlue Airways plans to launch next year a premium product on transcontinental services connecting New York and Boston to San Francisco and the Los Angeles area, chief commercial officer Robin Hayes said Wednesday during a meeting with Wall Street analysts and media.

Los Angeles - Loews Hotels during the past year accelerated its growth by adding about a half-dozen new properties through acquisition and development. "It's been a little bit different for this company," said Troy Furbay, then Loews' executive vice president of acquisitions and development, during an interview here in January at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit. "If you look at the last 10 years, Loews hasn't been that acquisitive, but we changed that pretty quickly." Promoted this month to chief investment officer, Furbay is one of several executives to join Loews during the past couple of years, all of whom are charged with increasing the brand's footprint. An edited transcript of his interview with BTN lodging editor Michael B. Baker follows.

Los Angeles - Choice Hotels International in late January announced a pair of deals that expand its presence in areas where it eagerly wants to grow: the upscale market and locations outside North America. A marketing alliance with timeshare company Bluegreen Vacations added 21 new resorts to Choice's upscale boutique Ascend Collection while a partnership with U.K. hotel operator Akkeron Hotels Group gives Choice nine new Quality and Clarion properties in the United Kingdom. Choice president and CEO Stephen Joyce spoke with Business Travel News lodging editor Michael B. Baker here last month during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit about these agreements and how Choice's new forays, including the growth of its upscale Cambria Suites brand, are affecting its conversations with corporate travel buyers.