BTN Names Wal-Mart's Duane Futch Travel Manager Of The Year

Business Travel News last night named Wal-Mart director of global travel services Duane Futch Travel Manager of the Year. Futch during the past 12 months has been engaged in several initiatives within his company and on behalf of the industry at large to garner the distinction. They include efforts to push suppliers to adopt sustainability measures that offset carbon emissions and work with airline partner American Airlines to implement radio frequency identification technology to more efficiently handle cargo and baggage. Futch also has played an instrumental role in resolving a tax issue, known as the 225-mile rule, to stop tickets issued within 225 miles of the U.S. and Canadian border from being taxed by both countries.

"Most significant among this buyer's accomplishments is the flight-testing of a global approach through which the company has consolidated strategic supplier contracts, Sabre global distribution system services and payment system UATP to create a unique U.S. point-of-sale structure that has pushed the envelope for Airline Reporting Corporation Corporate Travel Department operations and is eliminating barriers to the international financial settlement of the ticketing process," BTN Editor-in-Chief David Meyer said last night at an award reception in Chicago.

In accepting the award, Futch said, "This is really for my team at Wal-Mart. I just come up with the crazy ideas and they are the ones who make them work."