<B> Inside Track</B>
<B>Amadeus Purchases System One</B>
The Amadeus global distribution system last week announced it has acquired 100 percent ownership of System One Amadeus, its U.S. national distribution company (NDC), by buying out Continental Airlines and Electronic Data Systems. Previously, Amadeus, Continental and EDS each owned one-third of the NDC. The acquisition parallels a similar move by competitor Galileo International, which last year went public and bought its American NDC, Apollo Travel Services. But it also leaves Continental with no domestic GDS ties at all, and only a 12.4 percent share in Amadeus. Among the other largest U.S. carriers, United and US Airways own 31.9 and 6.68 percent of Galileo International, respectively; American sold its ownership in Sabre to its parent, AMR Corp., which owns 82.2 percent; and Delta and Northwest own 38 and 32 percent of Worldspan, respectively.
In addition to Continental, Amadeus is owned by Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa airlines, each with a 29.2 percent share. Continental CFO Larry Kellner last year told Wall Street the carrier was "looking at non-strategic assets like Amadeus, which we think has value in excess of $250 million." But pressed by BTN, he said Continental did not have any "current plan" to sell its shares (<I>BTN</I>, Jan. 27, 1997).
<a name="story2"><B>AA-BA Inching Closer?</B>
American Airlines said last week it expects the European Union to announce by the end of the month the conditions under which the airline's proposed alliance with British Airways would be approved. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation ended its requests for information from the two carriers and set a comment period with a May 11 deadline and then a June 10 deadline for replies. The Department of Justice said the proposed alliance (<I>BTN</I>, June 24, 1996) faces significant changes if it is to be granted immunity from antitrust laws. U.S.-U.K. negotiators have yet to make progress on an Open Skies bilateral, a requirement for approval of AA-BA.
<a name="story3"><B>BTS to Double Client Installations</B>
Sabre has 30 corporate customers using Business Travel Solutions and will add 30 more in the next two or three months, senior vice president and general manager Sam Gilliland told Maritz Advisory Council participants last week. About a third of implementation time is spent trying to discern "what is our travel policy, really," he said, with corporations and Sabre identifying the gaps in policies and filling them in. Charles Schwab and Citibank are implementing end-to-end versions, with Schwab using IBM's expense product and Citibank using Portable's XMS.
<a name="story4"><B>Virgin, BA Take Rivalry to the Rails</B>
The British Airways-Virgin Atlantic conflict is about to flare up on another front as both companies vie for control of Channel Tunnel rail service Eurostar. London & Continental Railways, the consortium that runs Eurostar, is expected to surrender its contract on May 29. LCR members Virgin and National Express are making separate bids for the contract, National Express in collaboration with BA. Insiders believe the contract will go to BA, but Virgin claims this would create a dangerous monopoly in which "BA would control 90 percent of the London-Paris market," a spokesman said.
<a name="story5"><B>USOP Travel to Become Navigant</B>
Effective May 1, Ed Adams will step down as the head of Denver-based Professional Travel Corp. to become president and CEO of U.S. Office Products' new spin-off travel company, to be known as Navigant International. Gina Keating, Professional's COO, will replace Adams as president there, while Bob Griffith, who worked under Adams as PTC's CFO, will take that role at Navigant. Associated Travel's Walt Williams will serve as CIO.