Sabre Predicts Clear Skies for Its Airline Distribution and Tech Businesses
Skift Take
To paraphrase Sabre executives, airlines in North America are too fat and happy to be bothered to mimic the experiments with direct distribution happening in Europe. They're probably calling that right.
Executives at Sabre believe the travel technology giant will enjoy stable growth in the near-term, despite talk by some airlines of trying to persuade more travel agencies to book directly with them.
Sabre doesn't face the same distribution pressures that haunt its European-based peer companies like Amadeus and Travelport, said CEO Sean Menke during the Southlake, Texas-based company's earnings call on Thursday.
The comments came as the company reported steady growth. In the third quarter, Sabre generated $984.2 million in revenue, up 1.4 percent year-over-year. It reported $63.8 million in net income, a measure of profit, down 12 percent year-over-year. Executives attributed the drop in net income to one-time factors.
Sabre reported that, in the third quarter, its global share of airline distribution services rose one percentage point, year-over-year, to 39.6 percent. The profitability of these third-party bookings rose for the first time in three years, meaning the fees it charges airlines had faster growth than the fees it pays agencies t
