United Airlines, along with partners Air Canada, the Lufthansa Group and All Nippon Airways, are expanding contract extensions to apply to contracts that expire throughout 2021, according to a United sales communication.
The carriers now are offering price extensions for all corporate contracts expiring in 2021 and also will consider extensions on contracts expiring in the first quarter of 2022, expanding on what they already had done for contracts expiring this year. For ANA, those extensions apply to U.S. point-of-sale contracts; contracts with Asia-Pacific points of sale will be extended if they expire in the first quarter of 2021, and the carrier will announce plans for additional extensions at a later date, according to United. The carriers also will not use performance in the first half of 2021 as a factor in extensions.
The carriers still are supporting requests for proposals and contract renewals in lieu of extensions if corporate customers prefer them, United said.
In addition, United announced it was discontinuing its performance-based amenity fund for corporate customers on Jan. 1 "due to the unprecedented decrease in booking volume due to Covid-19," according to the sales note. That will not affect negotiated annual amenity funds allocated to corporate customers.