AI and Online Booking, IAG's Venture Arm and Delta’s Dimmer Outlook

Skift Daily Briefing Podcast

Listen to the day’s top travel stories in under four minutes every weekday.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, March 11. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Booking Holdings is getting ready for all scenarios regarding travel offerings from big artificial intelligence chatbots. But the company doesn’t envision them becoming online travel agencies, writes Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.

Chief Financial Officer Ewout Steenbergen outlined the reasons at a recent conference in San Francisco. Steenbergen described travel as complex and messy below the surface. He added that travelers will put more trust in specialists like online travel agencies than generic AI tools for big vacation purchases. 

Steenbergen also predicted that AI chatbots will become performance marketing channels for online travel agencies using a proven revenue model. 

Listen to This Podcast

🎧 Subscribe

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube | RSS

Next, airline group IAG announced on Monday it has set aside roughly $217 million for startup investments through a new venture arm, writes Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes.

IAG said the investments will focus on customer experience, operations, and sustainability across global markets. The airline group has invested in more than 10 startups since 2017, but the company saw a need for a more concerted effort. 

Finally, Delta Air Lines is the first U.S. carrier to revise its current quarterly revenue and profit forecast due to growing economic uncertainty, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.

Delta expects its operating profit margin to increase no more than 5%. That’s down from its previous forecast of between 6% and 8%. Delta also expects revenues to grow by no more than 4%, a roughly 5 percentage point drop from its previous projections. 

Maharishi notes the weaker outlook comes as some analysts have said mass layoffs in the federal government and potential tariffs could impact airlines.