Must-See Sessions at Skift Aviation Forum

German airline Lufthansa is expanding its presence in the United States, adding new flights and new cities to its robust lineup of international flights. 

As the second largest state in America, Texas is one beast of a trip. With points of interest dotted all the way through the state, this is not a place you can check off on a flying visit; instead, take your time.

If you spend a lot of time outdoors at night in the summer, you might be used to seeing shaky, silhouetted creatures flitting above. Maybe you’ve stopped to watch them skim over your garden at twilight, or you’ve caught them while you’re camping near a lake, or you just sense a brief flash of movement outside your window. Birdwatching is great, but bat-watching is another world entirely.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Dave Claunch, the owner of the Bloomhouse rental property in Austin, Texas. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Skift Aviation Forum is set to take flight in Fort Worth, Texas, hosted by DFW Airport, and for this year’s opening night reception, we’re taking things outside at the Fort Worth Zoo on October 31 from 6-8pm CDT.

Airlines used to lean on online travel agencies to find customers. But now in something of a turnabout, airlines have enough loyalists that online travel companies are, in some cases, providing services to airlines to help them sell upsells and packages directly.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, November 21. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Executives from two new airlines, Connect Airlines and Breeze Airways, shared their strategies at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas for starting up and pushing forward.

Over 200 leading companies are attending the Skift Aviation Forum this week at the historic Statler Hotel in Downtown Dallas on November 16. This includes companies like Southwest Airlines, Air Canada, American Airlines, and Sun Country, just to name a few. 

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.

Linda Jojo, chief customer officer for United Airlines, described a slew of ways the major airline is changing the customer experience during the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas. 

The dynamics of ancillary travel product distribution for airlines is continuously changing. Brand loyal customers are the order of the day. Yet in symbiotic ecosystems where airlines use online travel giants like Expedia to tailor their travel packages, competition for loyal customers is unavoidable.