Averting presidential intervention by only a few hours, American Airlines and the union representing its 23,000 flight attendants late last month reached a tentative contract agreement after more than two years of on and off negotiations. Details of the contract were not available at presstime nor was an endorsement by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants executive committee. Should union leadership approve the deal, the rank and file will begin voting. The National Mediation Board, which oversaw final negotiations, said the parties "agreed to maintain the status quo" while details are worked out. The ratification process may take weeks.
<B><A NAME="2">...But Prepares For Renewed Battle With DOJ</B>
American's parent company AMR Corp., meanwhile, once again will have to defend itself on anticompetitive charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. The suit was dismissed in April by a federal judge who found no fault with American's competitive actions. DOJ appealed that summary judgment and has maintained that the carrier used predatory pricing practices to bully low-fare competitors out of its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub. In response, American said the appeals court will reach the same conclusion as the summary judgement ruling.
<B><A NAME="3">Expedia Tech To Expand Worldspan Faring</B>
Expedia and Worldspan last week announced an expanded relationship in their jointly developed fare searching technology that reportedly will be made available later this year for U.S. domestic pricing by Worldspan subscribers. Worldspan's customizable new service, called ePricing, will feature lower system overhead costs and a user-friendly interface.
<B><A NAME="4">Hotel Telephone Surcharges Resurface</B>
Hotel phone charges made the local newspapers in Kansas City last week when a business traveler was charged $45 for making a 19-minute call from his room at the Westin Hotel to his Pennsylvania home. A 16-minute call to the same destination cost him $39. Travel managers have long pulled their hair out over these surcharges, which they believe to be wildly exorbitant, but which hotels increasingly have come to rely on as an added revenue source. Ironically, the Kansas City traveler wasn't frustrated as much by the charges as what he saw as a lack of prior notification, the same sticking point travel managers have with the energy surcharges currently being levied by hotels.
<B><A NAME="5">Cendant-Galileo Clears Regulatory Hurdle</B>
Cendant Corp. and Galileo International last week said the Federal Trade Commission granted them early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. Expected to close this fall, the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals outside the United States and the approval of Galileo's shareholders.
<B><A NAME="6">Orbitz Fracas Spurs Interest In Southwest Booking</B>
Atlanta-based TRX Inc. noted "an obvious spike in interest" for its Southwest Direct tool enabling agencies to book Southwest Airlines flights. That interest was generated when the carrier, in preventing Orbitz from using its fare and flight information, earlier this month stopped filing its fares with the Airline Tariff Publishing Co. The move means all GDSs, except Sabre, with which Southwest works directly and exclusively, can no longer call up Southwest information. As a result, corporations that wish to view Southwest flight and fare information--and ultimately book--must go directly to the airline, use Sabre-connected agencies or rely on agencies that have licensed TRX's Southwest Direct. To this point, more than 500 agencies already pay $795 per year for the product, but at least another 50 perspective users contacted TRX last week. Southwest itself offers travel agencies Dial Access, software for stand-alone PCs similar to the TRX product that dials directly into the carrier's res system. Rob Brown, a regional director at Southwest responsible for corporate travel products, said, "Since we made the decision not to file directly with ATPCO, we have seen strong usage and an increase in requests for SWABIZ," the carrier's direct corporate booking tool available on its Web site. "The strong usage and interest confirms our decision."
<B><A NAME="7">Invitation To NBTA-Bound BTN Readers</B>
Please join Business Travel News in Atlanta as we honor corporate travel management professionalism and the 2001 Travel Manager of the Year. Attend the reception, Tues., July 31, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Prime Meridian Restaurant at the Omni Hotel, 100 CNN Center. Please come for the conversation, cocktails, hors d'oevres and music, but don't miss the announcement of this year's winner soon after 7 o'clock.