LOS ANGELES -- Delta Air Lines plans to be a leader in electronic
commerce, with more than 40 e-commerce programs already under way,
several of them new distribution models, said Vince Caminiti,
Delta's senior vice president of sales and distribution, at a
general session at the National Business Travelers Association
convention.
Caminiti pointed to Fortune magazine's cover story this year on
the 12 biggest "movers and shakers" in e-commerce, noting that Leo
Mullen, Delta's chief executive officer, was among the list's
members, which, as a whole, were a generation older than last
year's Fortune "e-commerce gang."
"This year's cover points to an important shift in e-commerce,"
Caminiti said. "More traditional companies have taken over the
e-world and they are not in it for a fast buck but to meld their
traditional strengths with new technology."
Delta intends to use e-commerce technology fully, said Caminiti,
who used as an example the recently announced Mind Your Own
Business Travel, a Web site at www.myobtravel.com that is being designed to
capture the small business market.
MYOB, due to launch later this year, will make Delta a
competitor of traditional corporate agencies and on-line agencies
like Biztravel.com andTrip.com.
Caminiti also noted that the company is beta-testing a system
whereby corporations with air agreements with Delta have direct
booking access to the airline's inventory, including Web-only air
fares.
He urged corporate travel managers to move their travelers to
self-booking systems, but he also acknowledged that "there will
always be a need for human intervention" in the travel arrangement
process.