Inside Track: Bastian: Delta, Northwest Integration "On Track"

Delta Air Lines president Edward Bastian told investors this month that integration with newly acquired subsidiary Northwest Airlines is "fully on track and going well." He said 2009 would be a "transition year for us," noting that the carriers would not act as one entity until they are granted a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, expected in late 2009. Bastian, who also serves as interim Northwest president and CEO, said the carriers plan to migrate to a single reservations platform in the first part of 2010. He claimed that the carriers' targeted synergies of $500 million are on track, and the alignment of fee policies (BTNonline, Nov. 5) already has put the carrier on the path to achieve $200 million of those synergies. Delta, along with Northwest, also announced plans this month to further reduce systemwide capacity by up to 8 percent in 2009.

Travel Managers Of The Year Join Suppliers
Two BTN Travel Managers of the Year this month, after 10-year stints as travel buyers, began newly created consultative sales roles . StarCite hired Kevin Iwamoto as its vice president of enterprise strategy and Sabre's GetThere named Duane Futch vice president of travel procurement strategy. While on the Hewlett-Packard team, 2002 BTN Travel Manager of the Year Iwamoto served as president of the National Business Travel Association. Iwamoto said responsibilities for his new role at the meetings technology company include helping travel managers develop strategic meetings management programs or take such programs to the next level. 2006 BTN Travel Manager of the Year Futch said his new focus is on providing consulting to clients, prospects and agency resellers. GetThere president Chris Kroeger said that Futch's primary responsibility is "to offer advice and ideas to travel managers to optimize travel procurement strategies and specifically how they can leverage technology to create value." GetThere also named former Meeting Professionals International vice president Joan England as vice president of sales for North America.

Lufthansa Readies Italy-Based, Intra-Europe Brand
Lufthansa is planning to launch Lufthansa Italia, a new Italian airline brand that would use a fleet of two-class, 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft to serve European destinations from Milan as soon as February 2009. The announcement came amid an ongoing bid for a stake in Italian carrier Alitalia, in which Lufthansa and Air France are the chief rivals. The launch of Lufthansa Italia is "completely separate from anything that might take place with Alitalia," a spokesperson said. Lufthansa Italia's plan is to serve Barcelona and Paris beginning Feb. 2, 2009, with service to Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest and Madrid following within a month, followed by London and Lisbon later in 2009.

U.K. To Raise Air Passenger Duty By Distance, Class
The United Kingdom Treasury plans to increase air passenger duty rates by length of haul and class of service on Nov. 1, 2009, instead of its previous per-plane tax proposal, drawing the ire of airline associations, which have called the duty illegal fees masquerading as environmental protections. The United Kingdom last month said it is moving from two to four "distance bands" in efforts to "improve environmental signals." The new air passenger duties would range from £11 (US$16.68) per way for economy travel of 2,000 miles or less to £110 for traveling more than 6,000 miles in the front of the plane.