AA Contract Vote Looms
American Airlines pilots will vote on their tentative contract on or just after May 5. Several reports indicate the pilots are likely to approve the contract. If they do not, however, another strike could come as early as June 6. Meanwhile, Continental and its pilots are just starting negotiations and US Airways is already in talks with pilots, who want cost-of-living pay increases, while the airline reportedly is seeking wage cuts of up to 12.5 percent.
Airports To Refine Intl. Arrival Procedure
A global initiative to shorten lines for clearing immigration at airports will be announced at this week's World Travel and Tourism Council annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Developed in collaboration with Airport Councils International and IBM, the announcement will concern an evolution of the Future Automatic Screening of Travelers program. Better known in the United States as INSPass, it uses biometric technology, whereby arriving passengers at international airports can pass immigration by inserting a card in a machine that matches the data with a scan of the passenger's hand.
The WTTC is keeping mum on the nature of its latest announcement, but reports indicate that the new development will concern using the program for automated boarding control without the need to show a passport or a boarding card. Bermuda will be one of the first airports to test the new system.
<
BTCC To Hold First Airline Summit
The Business Travel Contractors Corp.'s Airline Competition Summit, scheduled for April 23 at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C., will feature a keynote address from Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, followed by presentations by industry and government leaders including Lewis Jordan, CEO of ValuJet; Sam Addoms, CEO of Frontier Airlines; and Patrick Murphy, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Transportation. BTCC sees next week's meeting as the first in a series that will seek to promote a more competitive airline industry by analyzing barriers to entry and offering solutions. All travel and purchasing executives are invited and there is no registration fee, but registration must be completed through BTCC's Lafayette Hill, Pa., office, 610-834-8550.
Performance-Based Discount Doesn't Fly
One New York corporation in a recent airline RFP asked for a discount based on operational performance, according to a source. In other words, if the carrier performed well in various categories of operations, such as on-time arrival rates, the discount would be a certain percentage, but if performance fell, the discount would increase. An interesting idea; however, the carrier didn't go for it.
Expedia Begins Global Push
Microsoft's Expedia Website (www.expedia.com) this month went global with a modified version for Canadian clients. Until now, Net surfers from anywhere in the world could browse the Expedia site and access air, hotel and car information, but only U.S. residents could make bookings. The Canadian version includes pricing in Canadian dollars, a support line with both English- and French-speaking agents, and ticket printing and fulfillment through GTS Travel in North York, Ontario. Expedia product manager Erik Blachford is aiming to duplicate that in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Japan by the end of the year.
German Contingent Returns To IBTA
The Germans are returning to the International Business Travel Association, and their leadership is coming to Malmo, Sweden, for the 23rd IBTA Congress, May 14 through 17. New IBTA president Glyn Farrell, senior manager of personnel and business travel for Lloyds Bank, acknowledged that the VDR, the influential German national association of business travel executives, has been absent from the annual event for several years following a falling out with the former IBTA leadership that seemed largely concerned with the issue of language. IBTA sessions always have been presented in English. This year, Continental is supporting the European Union in providing simultaneous translation into German and French. Keynote speaker at the conference will be Jan Stenberg, president and CEO of Scandinavian Airlines System. For information, contact the Swedish Business Travel Association by phone: 46-8-21-73-80, fax: 46-8-24-97-30 or e-mail:
[email protected].
Hertz Scores Record First Quarter
Higher revenue from U.S. car rental operations brought Hertz Corp. earnings of $19.7 million, twice what it earned in the first quarter of last year. Last month, parent Ford Motor Co. filed an initial public offering to sell less than 20 percent of Hertz's common stock for an estimated $600 million.