Newsmaker: Business Travel Buyer Switches Back To Supply Side

<B> Newsmaker: Business Travel Buyer Switches Back To Supply Side</B>

By Jay Campbell

It's not too often that an airline employee goes to work as a corporate travel manager, but its even rarer that a travel manager goes to work for an airline.

Tracy Dowd has done both. After four years as travel management supervisor at Coopers & Lybrand L.L.P. in Stamford, Conn., Dowd in early April took the new position of manager of corporate marketing for US Airways.

Dowd returns to the airline industry, where she worked in various sales and marketing postions for American Airlines. She now reports to senior director of distribution planning Shafiq Khan, who in turn reports to vice president of sales Steve Tracas.

"Tracy will develop the strategies, products and programs to ensure we are addressing the needs of the corporate market," Khan said.

Dowd is working alongside the folks who were marketing US Airways' Corporate Travel Works booking system and brings to the Arlington, Va.-based airline the buyer's perspective in implementing such programs. She had been attempting to roll out the United Airlines electronic booking product Corporate Connection at Coopers & Lybrand (<I>BTN</I>, Sept. 8, 1997).

Dowd will be working on a lot more than just booking systems, however, as US Airways is in the midst of a major restructuring of its sales organization designed to put more focus on the corporate market. The airline is promising more details on that restructuring to come soon, but the recent series of key appointments in US Airways' sales division, including former regional travel management company head Paul Leyh and Tracas (<I>BTN</I>, April 13), may be an indication of things to come. Like Dowd, they too are American Airlines alumni.

One US Airways manager agreed it would be fair to say the airline has never before looked at the corporate market very strategically. He said that Dowd will be charged with giving Leyh, director of corporate programs, and his sales personnel "more of an idea of direction, a big picture."

Dowd's previous boss, director of travel management at Coopers & Lybrand, Jim Lennon--now merging his travel program with that of Price Waterhouse director of travel systems Mark Williams (<I>BTN</I>, March 16)--had only the most positive things to say about her. "She's the best. We really miss her," he said. "She handled technology, airline negotiations, card, agency . She was my right hand person and now I'm realizing she was doing a lot of things I wasn't even aware of.