Inside Track - 1997-01-13

<B>AA-BA could get Spring Nod</B>

American Airlines and British Airways believe they can begin their transatlantic alliance by April. AA vice president of government affairs Will Ris said the Department of Transportation should issue a decision within 90 days.

Meanwhile, BA said the British government's Office of Fair Trading has almost concluded its approval process- despite claims from AA-BA's competitors that OFT's proposal for AA-BA's divestiture of 168 Heathrow slots is inadequate. "We will be negotiating that number over the next few days or weeks," said an OFT spokesman. As far as a liberalized U.K.-U.S. bilateral-a prerequisite for the alliance, according to AA-BA-U..S deputy assistant secretary of transportation Mark Gerchick said negotiations will continue Feb. 4, when "we'll see whether the British are really interested in an open skies agreement."

<B>Sabre CRS To Go Online</B>

Learning a fast lesson from the popularity of the Internet version of its Business Travel Solutions automated booking system, Sabre Travel Information Network plans to debut an Internet version of its full CRS system-and hopes eventually to migrate its entire network of agency customers to the Web. STIN president Jeff Katz, speaking at Carlson Wagonlit Travel's annual business meeting in Orlando last week, said Sabre has been testing an Internet version of the Sabre CRS system internally, and found that "almost everything" works just the same as in Sabre's traditional hard-wired format, with no degradation of response time in accessing CRS data or making bookings. Moving its CRS customers to a Web-based system would save agencies the time and expense of installing Sabre hardware, wiring and dedicated telephone lines-and from having to download disks to make changes and upgrades in the system, Katz said.

<B>Booking The Friendly Skies</B>

Six months into an extended beta test of its corporate online booking system, United Airlines is preparing to launch a client-server version in the next few weeks, and an intranet version by the second quarter of the year. Also on the agenda are a shift in marketing responsibility for the product to Apollo and Galileo, United's GDSs, and a possible name change to Apollo Corporate Connection.

Hewlett-Packard corporate travel operations manager Earl Foster has extended his beta test of the United system for another 30 days, but then hopes to choose a global system for the company.

<B>Holiday Inn To Add Brands</B>

Holiday Inn Worldwide will reveal plans for a second new brand this year, in addition to the all-suite brand it announced last year, according to Bjorn Hanson, national hospitality industry chairman for Coopers & Lybrand. Details of the second brand, however, are under wraps. In addition, major changes will sweep through the company's Crowne Plaza brand, Hanson said. Meanwhile, the chain chose finalists for its chief executive vacancy late last month, although it would not disclose any names.

Hanson said that Westin also will announce a new brand that will be targeted to suburban locations.

<B>Travis to Get Even Tanner</B>

Carlson Wagonlit Travel's new global headquarters will be built not in Atlanta, but in Miami as soon as the final merger documents are completed. Parent companies Carlson Companies Inc. and the Accor Group received approval from the U.S. government and expect a decision from the European Community by the end of January, according to Marilyn Carlson Nelson, vice chairwoman of the holding company. Among the executives to join the new global company's president and CEO, Travis Tanner, in Miami will be CFO Olivier de Surville, chief technology officer Dick Smith and senior vice president of global sales and marketing Liliana Frigerio.