American Airlines has sued airline ticket consolidator U.S.A. Gateway — which does business as GTT Travel — alleging that GTT duped travelers into thinking they were booking direct with American, and then gouged them with exorbitant fares and fees.
25.08.2023 - 14:36 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden / Glenn Fogel / Paul Abbott / Matthew Parsons
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, November 9. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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European authorities are preparing legislation requiring airlines to use more sustainable fuel by 2030 in efforts to make aviation more environmentally friendly. But to accomplish that ambitious goal, American Express Global Business Travel CEO Paul Abbott argues the travel industry needs to start securing money now to build sustainable fuel plants, reports Corporate Travel Editor Matthew Parsons.
Speaking at the Global Business Travel Association’s Sustainability Summit on Tuesday, Abbott said 300 sustainable aviation fuel plants need to be built to help hit, for example, a 10 percent sustainable fuel target. Building the production plants would cost $90 billion and take five years, Abbott estimated. He added the travel industry has to figure out soon how to obtain the money to start building the plants in 2024 or 2025.
Abbott also said he doesn’t view operating fewer flights as the most appropriate method to reduce carbon emissions, arguing reducing the number of leisure flights is difficult. However, Mark Cuschieri, the association’s vice president, said at the summit that getting the necessary amount of sustainable aviation fuel was challenging.
Next, Booking.com, which is often seen as a rival to Airbnb, only recorded a modest increase in short-term rental bookings from 2019 levels during the third quarter. But the company isn’t worried about stagnant booking levels in the sector, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.
Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel acknowledged during its recent third quarter earnings call that it wants to expand its roster of short-term rental properties. However, Fogel said its inability to attract more short-term rental bookings wasn’t necessarily a negative since hotel bookings are more profitable for the company. Hotels represented roughly 70 percent of bookings on the site during the third quarter, around the same level as last year.
Fogel stated Booking.com’s strategy isn’t to push travelers toward short-term rentals instead of hotels. But he said the company could easily increase short-term rental bookings if it struggled with hotels.
Finally, Norwegian Cruise Line saw its occupancy level rise in the third quarter even as it increased its pricing. The company believes it will fill ships next year with even higher pricing amid a possible economic downturn, writes Dawit Habtemariam.
Norwegian Cruise President and CEO Frank J. Del Rio said during its third quarter earnings call on Tuesday that its occupancy level rose to 82 percent, a 17 percentage point increase from the previous quarter. That jump
American Airlines has sued airline ticket consolidator U.S.A. Gateway — which does business as GTT Travel — alleging that GTT duped travelers into thinking they were booking direct with American, and then gouged them with exorbitant fares and fees.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, November 21. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
The world’s biggest airline is ready for Thanksgiving, having already battled through several hurricanes in recent months.
The boss of the world’s biggest corporate travel agency has clashed with a top European politician over the best way to lower carbon emissions.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 10, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
The inaugural Skift Aviation Forum welcomed Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, as its first speaker at the Statler Hotel in downtown Dallas. During the interview he shared how the world’s biggest airline was prepared for the upcoming Thanksgiving vacation, and already looking ahead to the future with a focus on recruiting and training pilots, and staffing the carrier back up.
United Airlines, Alcohol Wipes and Finding New Customer Touch Points: Some passengers want to talk to people. Some do not. United Airlines wants make sure they all have a choice.
Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker believes it’s premature to draw firm conclusions about the emergence of new travel patterns seven months into the travel industry’s recovery. But Bricker said at the recent Skift Aviation Forum that surging airfares are changing travelers’ behaviors, including driving more consumers to fly on Tuesdays instead of the weekend.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 3, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Norwegian airline Flyr announced on Tuesday it would file for bankruptcy after failing to raise the money it needed for its operations, becoming the latest aviation casualty since the start of the pandemic.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
With just one month to go, there’s a lot of noise about American Airlines’ decision to hold back 40 percent of its fares, mostly for business travel, for so-called New Distribution Capability-powered channels and direct channels, such as its own website.