Rumors, denied by American Airlines,
surfaced recently that it is following
Continental's lead in cutting out net fares for
wholesalers. But no one seems to take the denial as the final word.
As one operator put it, "They" -- i.e. the airlines -- "are all
considering it."
After Continental's
move, all concerned parties are waiting for the other shoe to
drop.
"They are still
giving us net fares, but they are all thinking about it," said the
operator. "The problem is they stab themselves by offering
published fares that are less than bulk."
But if they drop
net fares, another operator asked, rhetorically, "How will they
encourage a seller of travel to support one particular carrier? You
always hold the hand of the one who gives you the most business a
little tighter.
"As I've often said
to our partners, 'It's not about the money, it's about the
money.'"
The fact
that Sandra Bernhard doesn't do "nice" was reinforced last
week at the Conde Nast Readers Choice Awards in
New York. After presenting a representative from
Vancouver with the award for Best City:
The Americas, as the happy award-winner returned to his
seat, the comedian said, "If only they had a decent hotel." When
the audience reacted with nervous titters, she followed up with,
"You know I'm right." The awards will be broadcast Oct. 25 on The
Travel Channel.
Daniel
Garton, executive vice president of marketing at American
Airlines, may have improved his corporate standing within
the company and his stature as a CEO candidate when the day comes
that AMR boss Gerard Arpey decides to step
down.
TC hears that
Garton played a key role in mending fences with
Sabre and helping to break the vitriol-laden
impasse. Garton, TC heard, made the first call to Sabre in late
August to get talks rolling again on a new Sabre-American content
agreement and then supplanted American's David Cush, the airline's
senior vice president of global sales, as the point man in the
talks, which led to an agreement in early September.