Southwest Airlines Looks Beyond the Downturn to a Corporate Travel Recovery
Photo Credit: Southwest Airlines is confident more airport testing will help boost passenger numbers. Southwest / Stephen M. Keller
Skift Take
Airlines need to choose their battles carefully. In Southwest's case, will this combination of technology partnerships and airport testing be enough to bring business trips back at scale?
Southwest Airlines is in "the fight of our lives" — but confident some recent technology developments will help its corporate travel rebound.
Southwest Business, the airline’s corporate travel arm, is making some of its own progress behind the scenes. On October 5, it expanded its partnership with the Amadeus global distribution system. While it was already using Amadeus’ passenger service system Altea, it's now upgraded to the Amadeus Travel Platform.
As a result, the carrier's content becomes available to international travel management companies with points of sale in the U.S. It also gives company travel buyers, and travel management companies, greater access to its fares, for example allowing them to automatically re-book with instant special service requests — a useful feature in these disruptive times.
“By joining with Amadeus, we’re continuing our mission of removing friction for corporate travel man
