AMADEUS LAUNCHED AGENTA, a business unit enabling
small, leisure agencies in the U.S. to outsource ticket fulfillment
and back-office processes, while gaining access to preferred
suppliers that offer higher commissions. Kay Urban, president and
CEO of Amadeus North America, said Agenta customers will spend less
money and time on back-office tasks--like invoicing and
reporting--and free up time to sell more travel and increase
revenue. Amadeus provides equipment and communications gear, for
which the agency must pay. The agency does not get to keep GDS
incentives. Agenta charges $149 for implementation, a subscription
fee starting at $50 per month and a per-invoice fee of $5 to $7,
based on the agency's volume.
THE ASSN. OF CORPORATE TRAVEL EXECUTIVES voiced
its objections to CAPPS II in a meeting last week with the
Transportation Security Administration. Not only would the proposed
Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II compromise
corporations' data privacy policies, argued ACTE, but it would also
burden corporations with added costs. Those costs are associated
with additional security delays for business travelers at airports,
ACTE said, and the more tangible costs for GDSs to upgrade their
systems to accommodate CAPPS II--an expense that could affect the
cost of travel-management services. ACTE said it's time for the TSA
to "consult with corporate travel managers and privacy officers"
about CAPPS II.
AMADEUS FAILED TO CONVINCE THE U.S. DISTRICT
COURT of Delaware that Orbitz and ITA Software were guilty
of breach of contract, as the court issued a summary judgement in
favor of Orbitz and ITA. Amadeus had filed a complaint against
Orbitz in October 2002, claiming that Orbitz's use of ITA's
low-fare search engine violated a software-development and
licensing agreement signed by Amadeus and ITA in 1998. A provision
stated that no party could license or sublicense ITA's product to a
GDS or a GDS affiliate. Amadeus argued that Orbitz was an affiliate
of Worldspan [Orbitz's GDS vendor] because Delta, Northwest and
American had ownership interests in both companies. [The three
airlines have since sold their Worldspan shares.] Amadeus had filed
a second complaint in February 2003 against ITA, a company in which
Amadeus holds a 20% interest, claiming breach of contract and civil
conspiracy. The court ruled last week that Orbitz wasn't a
Worldspan affiliate because the three airlines that owned Worldspan
didn't have complete control of both companies, as Orbitz has five
airline owners. The court also ruled that ITA didn't breach its
contract with Amadeus by striking a licensing deal with Orbitz.
OUTTASK, the Alexandria, Va.-based vendors of
corporate self-booking tool Cliqbook, now provides direct access to
merchant hotel inventory. Outtask partnered with online distributor
CNG Hotels, which said it has some 15,000 properties in its
portfolio. Outtask said participating hotels offer discounts
ranging from 15% to 65% off published rates.
EXPEDIA BOOKED more than 65,000 vacation packages to the Bahamas
in 2003. The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism--which is an Expedia
client--and the ministry's private-sector partners named Expedia
Tour Operator of the Year, giving Expedia the Cacique Award.
Expedia's WWTE unit, which powers Web sites on a private-label
basis, does just that for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism's site
[www.bahamas.com].