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Online Travel
If you think all airlines will lower their fees to encourage more bookings during the pandemic, think again.
Sean O'Neill, Skift | 4 years ago
For years, airlines, travel agencies, and their technology partners acknowledged they could adopt more modern ways of selling plane tickets. The sticking point lately has been less technological than commercial. Thursday's deal is a seismic moment serving as a model for how the sector might afford to transition to the future.
Coronavirus
The first half of July saw little improvement in travel agency bookings compared with the first half of June, according to the world's largest processor of airline tickets. Sigh.
The cash injection will give the travel technology firm Travelport some breathing room as it fights payments tech firm Wex over a transaction dispute.
Amadeus, the world's largest provider of ticket distribution and operational software for airlines, is a bellwether for the sector. It had a weak February, but it expects a rebound later this year. The outlook for airlines, however, is less optimistic.
Sabre CEO Sean Menke is right to highlight the progress his business has made during the three years since he took the top job. He's also right to insist the company needs to invest more in tech to keep up with the travel industry's pace of digital change. But will investors be patient?
Tourism
Air India and Oyo couldn’t be more different, not just in their respective businesses, but both could be gone in a New York minute if they aren’t able get past the biggest test they face currently.
Raini Hamdi, Skift | 4 years ago
Airlines
Much is at stake for global distribution systems and travel agencies as struggling Air India uses airline distribution as a means to stay afloat. The real winners and losers in this battle are still up in the air, with Amadeus back in the game after pulling out over a year ago.
It's rare for airline contract disputes with distribution companies to reach this outcome. Finnair will suffer financially until it cuts a deal. Sabre, for its part, risks embarrassment if it's seen as bullying a midsize carrier. Nobody usually ends up winning in these classic games of chicken.
A British Airways hiccup earlier this month was merely the latest tech outage at a number of airlines. Why does the industry suffer from so many glitches? Experts point to some deeper reasons beyond the commonly heard "old tech" explanation.
Sean O'Neill, Skift | 5 years ago
