Sabre saw strength in corporate travel bookings at the end of 2025 following a largely "negative" year, and that strength has continued into the beginning of 2026, CEO Kurt Ekert said in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.
The company reported a 3 percent year-over-year increase in total bookings in the fourth quarter, boosted by an increase of 4 percent in air bookings. Lodging, ground and sea bookings were flat year over year. Sabre had projected a larger increase in air bookings for the quarter, but the lingering government shutdown, which ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, had a bigger-than-expected impact due to flight cancellations and decreased inbound traffic to the U.S., Sabre CFO Mike Randolfi said.
For December, Ekert said air distribution bookings were up 7 percent year over year. "The strength we saw in December has continued and is broad-based across all regions, and also within corporate travel," he said.
Sabre reported distribution revenue in the fourth quarter increased 5 percent year over year to $526.8 million. IT solutions revenue declined 4 percent year over year to $139.7 million.
The company projects revenue and air distribution volumes each will increase by mid-single-digit percentages year over year in the first quarter and for full-year 2026. While Ekert said he expects the global distribution system market will be flat from 2025 to 2026, Sabre aims to grow via adding marketshare, its new low-cost-carrier platform and New Distribution Capability volume growth.
NDC bookings made up 4 percent of Sabre's total air distribution bookings in 2025, and Ekert said that will accelerate this year. Sabre currently has 42 carriers with live NDC integrations, with 15 carriers added in 2025.
Sabre also announced several executive promotions in its earnings report, including chief product and technology officer to president of product and engineering, a role in which he will be leading innovation and agentic AI at Sabre. In addition, EVP and chief administrative officer Shawn Williams has been promoted to EVP and COO, SVP of global agency sales and delivery Andy Finkelstein has been named chief commercial officer of Sabre's Travel Marketplace and SVP of global human resources Dave Medrano has been named chief people officer. Sabre EVP and chief commercial officer Roshan Mendis also has stepped down from his position and will remain with Sabre as a senior advisor until his departure in the second quarter, the company announced.
For the fourth quarter, Sabre reported a net loss of $103.1 million, deepening from a loss of $74.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The loss stemmed in part from a restructuring charge, an $8 million reduction in income tax benefit and a $5 million loss on extinguishment of debt from refinancing during the quarter.
For the full year of 2025, Sabre reported a net income of $524.6 million, compared with a $278.8 million loss in 2024. The net income was driven primarily by Sabre's sale of its Hospitality Solutions unit, the company said.
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