Articles tagged “global distribution systems”

The U.S. Transportation Department wants airlines to be more transparent about their ancillary fees. In theory it would help businesses, but the corporate travel sector has been grappling with this issue for years already.

Global distribution system provider Sabre is alleging that beginning May 31 Hawaiian Airlines implemented a new distribution policy that prevented U.S.-based travel agents using Sabre from booking the airline’s inter-island…

After a strong first quarter, the technology company has been snagged by the operational issues that plagued airlines and airports in June. It was all going so well, too.

The company, which is backed by Concur co-founder Steve Singh, is still on its mission to quietly dismantle the underlying technology and commercial kickbacks that the corporate travel industry was built on. That costs a lot of money.

A corporate travel rebound is in the offing, says new data from tech firm Sabre. Bill Gates may have to eat his words, given his dire 2020 prediction about business travel.

Sabre has stood apart from its travel tech peer companies by being the first to cease offering flights from Aeroflot. It's an unusual step as it comes at a cost to the company. The price of doing the right thing.

Sabre's rebound will depend on a snapback in long-haul business travel, which has lagged the domestic leisure recovery. Yet the travel technology firm is wise to keep spending on much-needed system improvements despite the financial headwinds.

For years, a handful of large airline groups outside of the U.S. have slapped surcharges on airfare sold via legacy technology. Hawaiian is the first U.S.-based airline to add distribution surcharges.

Operational software may sound dull, but it could become dramatically lucrative for Sabre once the crisis recedes and airlines and hotels resume spending on travel technology.