Dennis Schaal

Don't expect American Airlines to exit bankruptcy anytime soon. Emerging from bankruptcy without the merger issue resolved isn't an option.

Officials from American Airlines and US Airways may have blundered big-time when they publicly stated that their respective airlines could indeed operate independently. This deal looked so bad from an anti-competition perspective that even the attorneys general from Texas and Arizona, where AA and US Air are headquartered, respectively, joined the suit.

Many of these angels have some big wins on their resumes, some more than one. They see a huge opportunity in vacation rentals, a high-growth market where there is tons of room for improvements both on the management end, and the guest experience.

Airline seats in coach are getting ever-more cramped as carriers leave the legroom to passengers purchasing higher-fare tickets. Anything that would make long-haul flights more comfortable to non-elite flyers would almost be like manna from heaven.

A changing of the guard at Hotwire was inevitable given the challenges it has faced all year due to Priceline's advertising and overall gains. Hotwire's own advertising wasn't effective enough to blunt the onslaught.

Hertz should be commended for getting out-front with the next-generation car-rental location. iPads, recharging stations, kiosks and business services make these locations much more than a place to pick up your car keys and get the hell out of there.

Davies' advocacy of small airlines banding together under a single operational management to trim costs is an interesting one as traditional airline alliances are giving some ground to new kinds of groupings. His idea, though, would face regulatory challenges.

This agreement between InterContinental Hotels, and Expedia and Booking.com is game-changing not for its short-term impact, but for the more far-reaching reverberations, and new regulatory actions that it will ultimately lead to.

Rentalcars.com won't bring in the mega wealth that Booking.com has done because of the disparate nature of the car and hotel businesses. But, there is a whole wide world out there, and Rentalcars.com, with Priceline's resources and experience at its disposal, has the potential to be a huge player on the global stage.

My heart breaks when I witness leakage and a lack of compliance because it really complicates duty of care and risk management. Know what I mean?