ABOUT
SABRE: Sam Gilliland, Sabres chairman and CEO, told
financial analysts last week that he expects JetBlue inventory to
be available anew in Sabre very soon. Gilliland added, Stay tuned
for an announcement that will be coming shortly. JetBlue had
withdrawn from Sabre at the end of 2004, following exits from
Worldspan and Galileo in 2001 and 2002, respectively. In other
developments, Gilliland said American Airlines and Sabre are still
pretty far apart on a number of terms in their negotiations for a
new participation agreement to replace the pact that expired July
31. Gilliland said Sabre desires a new long-term agreement with
American that would give the airline the best distribution
economics given their size and volume. On another front, Sabre
revealed that it began processing some bookings for Priceline.
ABOUT
WORLDSPAN: Chief Commercial Officer Ninan Chacko said a
variety of issues remain to be settled before Worldspan and Delta
notch an agreement to replace their existing participation pact,
which expires in early December. Discussions with Delta are
complex, Chacko said, because of the two parties long and broad
relationship. Delta, Northwest and TWA co-founded Worldspan in
1990. Worldspan continues to maintain and operate Deltas internal
res system and provides the airline with IT services, including
e-ticketing, Worldspans Rapid Reprice and e-Pricing. In other
developments, Chacko said Worldspan has elicited a strong response
from agencies regarding its optional products and that the company
has been in detailed contact with the vast majority of our agency
base. He said the vast majority of agencies that have selected one
of the two new programs have chosen the Super Access Product. That
program is believed to provide for zero base incentives in exchange
for full content and airline service fee protections.
AMADEUS IN
EUROPE: With all of the focus in the U.S. on new
airline-content programs, Amadeus, which has been fairly silent on
the topic, has been operating a Full Content Option in Europe since
2005. Stephane Pingaud, the senior manager of distribution
marketing for Amadeus Airline Business Group, said 59 European
airlines participate in the program. Under the program, the
airlines continue to pay booking fees to Amadeus, which in turn
pays the airlines a content fee of about 58 cents per segment for
bookings in their home market. The content fee secures the entirety
of the airlines published fares in that market, Pingaud said.
Airlines that eschew participation in the Full Content Option can
withhold content, Pingaud said.
ORBITZ
unveiled OrbitzTLC Mobile Access, an offering
that enables consumers to check itineraries, flight status and
hotel availability in 20 U.S. markets from wireless devices. The
service is free, excluding the standard charges that wireless
providers levy, and can be accessed in mobile browsers by keying in
www.orbitz.com. Menu choices include My Trips, for checking
itineraries; Flight Status, to monitor departure and arrival times;
Find Hotel, to tap into Orbitzs five best last-minute hotel deals;
and Contact Us, to call a booking agent. The hotel feature
describes the propertys neighborhood, star rating and lowest room
rates. Bookings are made by calling an Orbitz agent. The system,
which works with any wireless provider that offers Internet access,
operates on cell phones and other mobile devices.
Technology
Editor:
Dennis
Schaal
Phone: (201) 902-1904
[email protected]
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opportunities in the E-letters, contact [email protected].