<B>InsideTrack</B>
<B>IATA Withdraws CCIS For Retooling</B>
The International Air Transport Association earlier this month withdrew its request for approval of recommended practice 1778, the Corporate Client Identification service that has drawn staunch criticism from numerous buyers, agencies and trade groups. Mike Müller, assistant director of passenger services in IATA's industry distribution and financial services division, told BTN the withdrawal was a "direct result of what I learned at the Association of Corporate Travel Executives event," a forum held last month at which various security and confidentiality concerns were raised (BTN, Jan. 29). Müller added that a CCIS task force was to meet this past week, with the ultimate goal of retooling the system. The revamped proposal would be reviewed first by IATA this fall and then by various world governments and regulatory bodies. The U.S. Department of Transportation had initially given the green light to CCIS in December 1999 but retracted its approval after acknowledging procedural errors in reviewing several complaints.
<B><A NAME="2">OAG To Offer XOL's My Trip Calendar Interface></B>
OAG soon will announce a deal with Xtra On-Line to package its corporate booking tool with XOL's My Trip calendar-based booking interface (BTN, July 31, 2000). Sales manager Alan Cross said OAG will make the product available in the United States this spring and in Europe by year-end.
<B><A NAME="3">Ad Groups To Seek Consortium Buying</B>
The three largest holding companies in the advertising industry, Interpublic Group, Omnicom Group and WPP Group, late last year began a T&E benchmarking committee that will look into the possibility of consortium purchasing. "We'll be sharing as much information as ethically possible," said Tony Occhipinti, Omnicom director of corporate travel worldwide.
<B><A NAME="4">Competing In Canadian Skies</B>
Smaller Canadian carriers are scrambling to offer alternatives in a marketplace dominated by Air Canada, including Roots Air, which is set to launch service March 26. The full-service carrier created by Skyservice intends to create a niche airline for business travelers. Transborder flights, starting with Toronto-Los Angeles, also are slated for a June launch. Meanwhile, Canada 3000 and Royal Airlines plan to merge and form the country's second largest passenger carrier. Should Canada 3000's offer to purchase Royal be approved by shareholders and the Canadian government in the weeks ahead, the combined entity would offer both domestic short-haul and long-haul flights, totaling as many as 40 city pairs by the end of the summer. For its part, Air Canada reported a fourth quarter net loss of C$274 million (US$184 million). For the full year 2000, net loss came in at C$82 million (US$55 million). The carrier said fuel costs "more than canceled out the financial synergies" of the Canadian Airlines merger.
<B><A NAME="5">Event411 Tests Pegasus XML</B>
Attendee management Web site Event411 Inc. has agreed to beta test Pegasus Solutions' Extensible Markup Language solution for processing group hotel reservations. Event411 also will gain instant connectivity to Pegasus' hotel distribution switch as part of the deal, allowing corporate attendees instant access to hotel availability, reservations and confirmations. XML is being developed throughout the industry as a conduit for easier, quicker methods of processing and distributing data, such as building and exchanging traveler profiles. Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based Event411 plans this quarter to begin beta testing Dallas-based Pegasus' XML solution, dubbed HotelML. The new technology should streamline the processing of hotel transactions and other communications through meeting industry third parties. "It will greatly speed up our implementation of other group systems and third-party Web sites," said Pegasus senior vice president of electronic distribution Brian Donowho.
<B><A NAME="6">IBTA To Hire Professional Director</B>
Attempting to redirect an organization that has suffered from declining interest in recent years, the International Business Travel Association for the first time will hire an executive director, officials said earlier this month at its annual congress in Barcelona. The decision comes in the wake of the resignation of president Glyn Farrell of U.K. travel agency Gray Dawes and official notification that the U.K. Institute of Travel Management also will leave IBTA. Farrell's replacement, Ilja Dayles, previous vice president and long-time executive director of the Netherlands Business Travel Association, told BTN the new leader, who could be based anywhere in Europe, will help relieve the demands on IBTA volunteers. This year's conference drew numbers that one IBTA official called "disappointing." IBTA is planning to hold next year's congress in Austria.