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  • American to Launch Seasonal Brisbane Service

    American to Launch Seasonal Brisbane Service


    American Airlines on Oct. 27 will add daily seasonal service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Brisbane, Australia, the carrier announced Thursday. 

    The flights will operate with “newly designed” Boeing 787-9 aircraft equipped with 51 Flagship Suite seats and 32 Premium Economy seats. 

    It also will be the carrier’s longest nonstop flight in the airline’s network, according to American.

    For the winter season, the carrier also on Oct. 27 will launch new daily seasonal service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Rio de Janeiro, return daily seasonal service between its headquarters hub and Kona, Hawaii, and expand to daily seasonal service between New York John F. Kennedy Airport and Rio de Janeiro. 

    American’s additional expanded winter service includes an earlier start of Dec. 5 for Los Angeles-Auckland, New Zealand, flights and daily holiday service from Dec. 19 to Jan. 6, 2025, between Dallas-Fort Worth and Kahului, Hawaii. 

    In addition, for this summer, the carrier on June 12 will add new daily service between Dallas-Fort Worth and Veracruz, Mexico. On June 8, from Dallas, American also will expand service to each Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 



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  • GBTA: Survey Sentiment ‘Bodes Well’ for 2024 Business Travel

    GBTA: Survey Sentiment ‘Bodes Well’ for 2024 Business Travel


    Most travel buyers expect business travel spending and volume to increase in 2024 compared with last year, with costs ranking as their top concern for the year, according to a Global Business Travel Association poll of 707 travel buyers, suppliers and industry professionals.

    The survey—fielded Jan. 9-22 with respondents from around the world, half of whom were travel buyers or procurement professionals—showed 59 percent of travel buyers said they expect business travel volume to increase year over year in 2024. Only 9 percent of total buyer respondents said that increase would be 20 percent or more, while half said volumes would increase by up to 20 percent. Twenty-eight percent said their business trip volume would be unchanged from 2023 this year, while 11 percent said volumes would decrease in 2024.

    In terms of spending, about two-thirds of buyers said their company would spend more on travel in 2024 compared with 2023—11 percent of total respondents said that increase would be higher than 20 percent, while 55 percent said the increase would be 20 percent or lower. Just over 20 percent said they expect spending to be flat year over year in 2024, and 12 percent project a spending decrease.

    “As companies and travelers continue to embrace the vital role of in-person connection for business, there are strong indicators for continued growth in travel volume and spending in 2024,” GBTA CEO Suzanne Neufang said in a statement. “This bodes well for the future of our industry and its professionals.”

    Across all survey respondents, about two-thirds listed the rising costs of travel among the top three significant issues faced by the business travel industry in 2024, the most frequently cited concern. Other top concerns included overall economic concerns (46 percent), corporate travel budgets not keeping pace with needs (42 percent) and travel disruptions (32 percent).

    The survey also indicated that suppliers are much more likely than buyers to see staff increases this year. Among travel supplier and travel management company respondents, 46 percent said they expect their company’s overall staffing to increase this year, and 36 percent said staffing levels should remain the same. Among buyer respondents, however, only 14 percent said they expect their internal travel team staffing to increase this year, while 64 percent said they expected no change in staffing. Twelve percent of buyers, however, said that while they did not expect their team to grow, they are getting more support via partnerships with other internal teams.

    Only 6 percent of buyers and 7 percent of suppliers said they expect staffing levels to decrease in 2024 compared with 2023.

    Additionally, the travel industry is largely ready to move on from using pre-pandemic trends as a benchmark, according to the survey, with 57 percent of respondents said performance comparisons with 2019 are no longer relevant. While about a third of respondents still see value in such comparisons, the pandemic itself ranked at the bottom of respondents’ concerns for 2024, according to GBTA.



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  • JetBlue Files for Expedited Merger Appeal, Will Focus on Leisure

    JetBlue Files for Expedited Merger Appeal, Will Focus on Leisure


    JetBlue and Spirit Airlines jointly filed a request to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for an expedited appeal of the Jan. 16 district court ruling that blocked their proposed $3.8 billion merger on antitrust grounds.

    The carriers argued that “good cause exists” to expedite the appeal because without it, the appeal is unlikely to be decided prior to the July 24, 2024, outside closing date of the merger agreement. 

    JetBlue and Spirit requested briefing deadlines through April 11 and that the court schedule oral arguments “no later than the May sitting” to allow the appeal to be decided prior to July 24. 

    JetBlue executives on a Tuesday earnings call acknowledged that last week the carrier notified Spirit that it could terminate the merger agreement, and they acknowledged the expedited appeal filing. 

    Outgoing CEO Robin Hayes noted that the carrier still was evaluating its options under the merger agreement, “which remains in effect,” he said. “Unless and until such time as the merger agreement is terminated, JetBlue will continue to fully abide by all of its obligations.”

    Executives otherwise “were not in a position” to answer any questions related to the Spirit merger during the call.

    Leisure Focus

    JetBlue president and COO Joanna Geraghty, who will take over as CEO on Feb. 12, targeted her earnings-call comments to current and upcoming changes for the carrier’s operations. These include “refocusing on our most proven geographies,” “urgently reoptimizing our network” and “taking care of our core customer.”

    Geraghty noted that leisure, particularly premium leisure, would be the main audience for the $300 million in revenue initiatives JetBlue plans to implement in 2024. Those plans include “aggressively reallocating underperforming capacity” to proven leisure and visiting-friends-and-relatives markets, refocusing efforts to “better serve and merchandise all leisure customers” with a growing focus on premium leisure, and continued growth in loyalty program and JetBlue Travel Products, according to an earnings presentation.

    Corporate travel was mentioned when Geraghty discussed further segmenting JetBlue’s onboard product offerings “more precisely.” That means “recharging our innovation DNA to bring an even better quality experience to the full spectrum of JetBlue customers, from leisure to [VFR], to corporate and premium travelers,” she said, adding that the carrier planned several new loyalty products in the coming years.

    “We will use this new chapter to improve how we merchandise to our core suite of customers,” Geraghty said. “And to the extent there are opportunities across certain customer segments, we will launch new revenue initiatives and close the gaps on our product offerings. In many ways, this means refocusing on our core strengths.”

    Geraghty said the carrier would share more details at its investor day in May.

    Q4, 2023 Metrics

    JetBlue reported fourth-quarter 2023 revenue of more than $2.3 billion, a 3.7 percent decrease year over year. Full-year revenue was up 5 percent versus 2022 to more than $9.6 billion. Quarterly passenger revenue was down 4.5 percent from a year prior to nearly $2.2 billion, while full-year passenger revenue increased 4.9 percent to $9 billion.

    The carrier reported a fourth-quarter loss of $104 million compared with net income of $24 million in Q4 2022. For the full year, the net loss was $310 million compared with 2022’s loss of $362 million.

    Capacity increased 3.3 percent for the quarter and 6.2 percent for the full year compared with the same periods in 2022. Average fuel costs for the fourth quarter and year were $3.08 and $3.03 per gallon, respectively. 

    JetBlue projects capacity to decrease during the first quarter of 2024 by 3 percent to 6 percent year over year. Its estimate for the full year is an increase in the low single digits. Revenue for the first quarter also is expected to decrease, by 5 percent to 9 percent from Q1 2023. Full-year revenue is projected to remain flat. Fuel prices for Q1 are estimated to be $2.87 to $3.02 per gallon.

    RELATED: JetBlue Q3 performance



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  • Amex Commercial Client Q4 T&E Spending Outpaces Overall Growth

    Amex Commercial Client Q4 T&E Spending Outpaces Overall Growth

    Travel and entertainment spending by American Express’ U.S. commercial customers increased 4 percent year over year to $26 billion in the fourth quarter even as overall spending for business customers had slower growth, the company reported.

    Total spending among Amex’s U.S. commercial clients totaled $131 billion for the quarter, up 1 percent year over year, as spending on goods and services was flat at $105 billion. Total spending among small and midsized U.S. clients was up 1 percent year over year in the quarter, and spending among large and global U.S. clients was down 2 percent year over year.

    In an earnings call, American Express CFO Christophe Le Caillec said spending growth by SMEs—which made up 83 percent of total spending by U.S. commercial clients in the fourth quarter—is “modest” because of “unique dynamics seen by small businesses over the past few years.”

    “Specifically in 2022, we saw a large increase in organic spending as businesses restocked their inventories following supply chain issues during the pandemic,” he said. “This caused a significant grow-over challenge with spending from this segment in the industry in 2023.”

    T&E spending by Amex’s international clients—which includes both consumer and commercial clients—increased 16 percent year over year to $25 billion in the fourth quarter. Commercial client spending—inclusive of both T&E and goods and services spending—increased 13 percent year over year and accounted for more than a third of Amex’s total international customer spending.

    For the fourth quarter, Amex reported total revenue of $15.8 billion, up 11 percent year over year due to both higher levels of card spending and a higher net interest income, according to Amex. For the full year of 2023, revenue was up 14 percent to $60.5 billion, a record for the company, as it “added 12.2 million new proprietary cards in the year, bringing the total number of cards-in-force issued on our global network to over 140 million,” Amex chairman and CEO Stephen Squeri said in a statement.

    Amex reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.9 billion, up 23 percent year over year. For the full year, Amex’s net income increased 11 percent year over year to $8.4 billion.

    RELATED: Amex Q3 results

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  • Southwest ‘Confident’ in Managed Business Trajectory

    Southwest ‘Confident’ in Managed Business Trajectory

    Southwest Airlines’ managed business revenue improved from the third quarter to the fourth, and from the fourth quarter into the new year, and the carrier expects another sequential improvement for the first quarter, Southwest chief commercial officer Ryan Green said on a Thursday earnings call.

    In addition, close-in bookings, including managed business bookings, performed at the better end of expectations in November and December, driving fourth-quarter unit revenue to outperform Southwest’s previous guidance, according to the company.

    “We’re definitely on track,” Green said. “How we finished the fourth quarter and then what we can see here in the first quarter and going forward makes me very confident. … We’ve got very strong bookings in place on the managed business side for February as we begin to get into that part of the curve. I think the overall macro-environment sets up well for us having a really good year.”

    Green added that during 2023 Southwest gained more than three points of market share in the managed business space compared with the end of 2022. 

    The fourth quarter also marks the one-year anniversary of Southwest’s disruptions during the 2022 holiday period. “I’m pleased to report that we saw no bookings impact from last year’s operations disruption, which speaks to the operational improvements we have made over the last year, as well as the enduring loyalty from our customers,” Green said.

    Southwest president and CEO Bob Jordan noted the new winter weather action plan the carrier created after last year’s incident has already been “successfully tested” in multiple winter weather events, “including the extended nationwide winter storms we experienced this month, but also with other types of disruptions such as hurricanes, severe fog in Chicago and the Maui fires.” 

    “Through all those events, our aircraft and crew networks remained stable,” Jordan said. “We recovered quickly, and we were able to minimize the impact on our customers.”

    Q4, FY 2023 Metrics

    Southwest reported total fourth-quarter revenue of $6.8 billion, a 10.5 percent increase year over year. Passenger revenue was up 12.1 percent for the period to $6.2 billion. Full-year 2023 revenue was nearly $26.1 billion, up 9.6 percent from the prior year. Passenger revenue for the year was $23.6 billion, representing a 10.4 percent increase. Both the quarter and full-year revenue figures were records, according to the company. 

    Still, the carrier reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $219 million, nearly equal with last year’s $220 million quarterly loss. For 2023, Southwest had net income of $498 million, a drop of 7.6 percent from 2022.

    Average fuel costs for the quarter were $3 per gallon and $2.89 for the full year. Southwest projects first-quarter fuel costs to be $2.70 to $2.80 per gallon, and $2.55 to $2.65 for the full year.

    The carrier plans to increase first-quarter capacity about 10 percent year over year. Southwest expects second-quarter capacity to increase 8 percent to 10 percent versus Q2 2023, and third-quarter capacity to increase 3 percent to 5 percent year over year. Full-year capacity is projected to increase 6 percent.

    “We made rapid adjustments to capacity for both 2023 and 2024 and put in place significant network adjustments in response to changing demand patterns,” Jordan said. “These changes reduced our planned 2024 year-over-year capacity increase to roughly 6 percent, all of which is carryover from 2023 network restoration. So, there will be no net new additional capacity in 2024 as we work to mature our route network.”

    Southwest in 2023 received 86 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft during the year and retired 39 aircraft. For 2024, there is “continued uncertainty around the timing of expected Boeing deliveries and the certification of the Max 7 aircraft,” Southwest CFO Tammy Romo said. 

    In October, the carrier placed an order for an additional 108 of the new jets, bringing its orderbook to more than 300. Southwest is planning for 79 deliveries and to retire 49 planes for the coming year. “Our 2024 capacity plans do not currently include any Max 7 flying,” Romo said.

    Jordan addressed an analyst question regarding whether it was considering changing its model of an all-Boeing fleet following the grounding of the 737 Max 9 aircraft after a door-plug incident Jan. 5. Southwest does not fly the Max 9 model. 

    “The Max 8 is a great aircraft; we’re very satisfied with it,” Jordan said. “Like Boeing, we support the work of the FAA and the oversight to improve quality, address any issues, because at the end of the day, a better Boeing is good for Southwest Airlines. … You have to understand, there’s no such thing as being able to de-risk all of this. … So, the best thing that we can do is work with Boeing to make them an even better company, which is exactly what’s happening.”

    RELATED: Southwest Q3 performance

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  • Alaska: Groundings Blunt Corp. Travel ‘Momentum’

    Alaska: Groundings Blunt Corp. Travel ‘Momentum’

    This month’s grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 aircraft has reduced Alaska Airlines’ first-quarter capacity by about seven basis points year over year and at least temporarily blunted “momentum” in business travel recovery that brought the sector’s revenue to within 5 percent of pre-pandemic levels, carrier executives said on a Thursday earnings call. 

    In the fourth quarter, Alaska’s business travel clientele increased booking revenue by 15 percent year over year, chief revenue officer and chief commercial officer Andrew Harrison said, representing “slow and steady recovery.”

    “Overall, business revenues are within 5 percent of 2019 levels with most industries now fully recovered,” Harrison said. “The notable exceptions are tech and professional services, which still lag other industries but did see 26 percent and 14 percent year-over-year revenue growth, respectively, in Q4.”

    That recovery, though, was “severely impacted” by the grounding of Alaska’s 737 Max 9 aircraft fleet after a Jan. 5 incident in which a door plug flew off during a carrier flight, Harrison said, and the subsequent cancellations damaged Alaska’s short-term corporate bookings. However, “we have continued to see good momentum in average fares for business travel, and I don’t see why that would not continue,” he said. 

    737 Max 9 Plans

    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday announced an inspection process that would allow Alaska and other carriers to begin to return 737 Max 9 aircraft to service. Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci said about one-third of the carrier’s January capacity was affected by the grounding, and that the carrier likely would delay several aircraft deliveries. That would affect the carrier’s 2024 capacity plans, which he said otherwise would have been for a 3 percent to 5 percent year-over-year increase. 

    “As a longtime valued partner, we remain fully committed to our relationship with Boeing, but we also intend to hold them accountable,” Minicucci said. He cited “raising the quality standards at the factory as well as making us whole,” as part of that process, but that it was secondary to safely restoring the 737 Max 9 aircraft to service.

    Hawaiian Deal Update

    Alaska last month announced it had agreed to acquire Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal. Since that announcement, a U.S. district court ruled against another would-be airline merger, that of JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. 

    Minicucci said Alaska has “held initial conversations” with DOJ about the Hawaiian acquisition and this month submitted filings under U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law. Still, Minicucci said he felt “we have a stronger and differentiated case from JetBlue and Spirit.”

    “Our view is that these deals are completely different,” Minicucci said. “JetBlue-Spirit was blocked by the judge essentially because it would eliminate a low-cost competitor. In our case, between Hawaiian and Alaska, these are two very similar business models. The networks are very, very complementary. In fact, when you combine the networks, there’s only 12 overlap routes through the combination.”

    Minicucci said Alaska would “work through the DOJ on that process.”

    NDC Update

    Unlike some other U.S. carriers, Alaska has not taken significant steps to limit bookings through EDIFACT channels or increase bookings through channels enabled by the New Distribution Capability standard. That likely won’t change in 2024, Harrison said, but afterward might be a different story. 

    Calling 2024 “a big year for us,” Harrison said that “there’s something like 12 APIs that we’re building out to fully unlock NDC. We have a number of modules already up and running on folks like Hopper. It’s actually [a] small percentages right now, but we’re seeing the benefits of it, and it’s going to be really good for us. ’25 is going to be the year of NDC for us.”

    Q4 Performance

    Alaska Airlines parent Alaska Air Group’s fourth-quarter passenger revenue increased 3 percent year over year to more than $2.3 billion. Total operating revenue also increased 3 percent to nearly $2.6 billion. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $2 million, compared with net income of $22 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

    Full-year 2023 passenger revenue increased 8 percent year over year to more than $9.5 billion. Total operating revenue also increased 8 percent to about $10.4 billion. The company reported net income of $235 million, compared with net income of $58 million in 2022.

    Fourth-quarter capacity as measured in available seat miles increased 14 percent year over year, while full-year capacity increased 13 percent. 

    RELATED: Alaska Q3 performance

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  • American Doubles Down on Direct, NDC Sales

    American Doubles Down on Direct, NDC Sales


    If it wasn’t already clear prior to the end of last year, American Airlines executives crystallized it on its Thursday fourth-quarter earnings call: It eventually plans to have all its content available via direct or New Distribution Capability channels. 

    “We sell our product through the internet. That’s what our customers demand,” American chief commercial officer Vasu Raja said during the call. “That’s how we can give them the best content at the lowest expenses to them and the best servicing. … As we go forward, we’re going to lean further into this. We need to make it easy for our customers to consume our content through the internet.”

    How soon that will happen is anyone’s guess. In November, BTN portfolio mate The Beat reported that an American spokesperson at the time said the carrier has “no plans to discontinue EDIFACT support.” 

    Still, for the fourth quarter, 80 percent of American’s bookings came through its website, app or NDC, compared with 69 percent in Q4 2022, according to the company. Of that 80 percent figure, 65 percent came through the carrier’s own channels, “which is our greatest rate of growth,” American CEO Robert Isom said, adding that the company was “a little surprised” at how quickly the transition has happened. 

    “Strategically, we’re going to distribute through the internet. At some point, the number becomes 100 [percent],” Isom said. “And the real issue in 2024 is, we want to just continue to transition as many of our retailing partners to use the internet with us.”

    Of course, there wasn’t much of a choice for some customers when American in April 2023 began to pull content out of the legacy EDIFACT channel. On earnings calls and in interviews since then, company executives have justified that decision and did so again on Thursday’s call.

    “We’re up 15 percent in revenue,” compared with 2019, Raja said, adding “we are down 8 percent to 9 percent in selling expenses.”

    Raja also added that the company plans to offer more loyalty-program mileage for customers who shop through the internet, plans to roll out better servicing capabilities for internet distribution, “and we are going to start restricting the amount of selling and servicing that we do through non-internet-based channels.”

    Fourth-quarter domestic revenue from business travel was at about 90 percent of 2019 levels, Isom said. The ratio between unmanaged business and managed was almost three to one, with unmanaged business more than 100 percent recovered from 2019 and managed business less so, Raja added. “The impact on managed business is really flat from traffic on higher yields,” Raja said.

    The company also is “excited” about the continued rollout of the AAdvantage Business program, introduced in October and which does not reward agency bookings. “We continue to see strength among small and medium-sized businesses,” Isom said. 

    When it comes to loyalty, in 2023 two-thirds of American’s revenue came from AAdvantage members, Isom added. “More than ever, our revenue growth is fueled by a growing number of AAdvantage customers who acquired our co-brand credit cards in record numbers in 2023. AAdvantage customers represent both our greatest source of value and greatest opportunity going forward.”

    New AAdvantage enrollments in 2023 were up 51 percent compared with 2019 figures, according to the company.

    American Q4, FY 2023 Metrics

    American reported fourth-quarter revenue of nearly $13.1 billion, of which $12 billion was passenger revenue. Each figure represented a 1 percent drop year over year. Full-year revenue was a record, according to the carrier, at nearly $52.8 billion, a 7.8 percent increase versus 2022. Passenger revenue was up 8.8 percent to $48.5 billion.

    Net income was $19 million for the fourth quarter, down from $803 million a year prior. Full-year net income was $822 million, up from $127 million in 2022. 

    Average fuel prices were $3.06 per gallon for the fourth quarter and $2.96 per gallon for the year. Fuel guidance is $2.65 to $2.85 per gallon for the first quarter of 2024 and $2.50 to $2.75 for the full year.

    American projects capacity to increase 6.5 percent to 8.5 percent year over year for the first quarter, and to be up mid-single digits in 2024 versus 2023. 

    RELATED: American Q3 performance



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  • InteleTravel Acquires Mtgs. Agency MGME

    InteleTravel Acquires Mtgs. Agency MGME

    Host travel agency InteleTravel has acquired global events agency McVeigh Global Meetings & Events, the company announced.

    The acquisition—for which the financials were not disclosed—follows InteleTravel’s acquisition of corporate travel consortium Hickory Global Partners last year. As with Hickory, MGME will remain an independent brand wholly owned by InteleTravel, but the agencies will deploy cross-efficiencies across all three businesses, according to the company.

    In Hickory’s case, for example, it will be able to provide air fulfillment for MGME events via its contact center business, Hickory Solutions365, which it launched last year. MGME annually produces about 1,000 events and conferences across 70 countries valued at about $500 million in annual spending, so it could be a “significant source of revenue” to Hickory, according to the consortia. Hickory agency and corporate travel department members, meanwhile, will be able to offer clients MGME’s meeting planning and production services.

    “This will allow our members and partners to have full access to top-to-bottom world-class event planning and coordination without having to engage with multiple vendors,” Hickory president Chris Dane said in a statement. “With our services, like Hickory Solutions365 for staffing air and registration overflow, MGME’s added volume for key suppliers, and new sources of business all around, it’s a natural fit and a game changer.”

    MGME and its clients also will have access to InteleTravel’s booking technology and automation, according to the company. All three companies will be able to consolidate some supplier contracts, including air, car and hotel, with MGME booking more than 100,000 room nights each year.

    “The MICE market is predicted to double to over a trillion dollars by the end of the decade,” according to InteleTravel president and cofounder James Ferrara. “Getting behind a leader like MGME makes sense, while being able to represent top quality event and exhibition offerings is a strong competitive advantage for both Hickory members and InteleTravel advisors.”

    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • United: Corp. Travel Took 'Significant Step Up' in January

    United: Corp. Travel Took 'Significant Step Up' in January

    Though still “well behind” where it should be relative to gross domestic product growth, corporate travel in the first few weeks of January took a “nice step up,” United Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said on a Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings call. 

    “Quarter four was OK, it wasn’t spectacular in any way,” Nocella said. “But as we started January and the new budget season for all of our big-budget clients, we did notice a significant step up.”

    The carrier also is seeing close-in yield gains “as a result from that,” and it’s one of the reasons United’s domestic revenue per available seat mile for the first quarter “is as strong as it is,” Nocella added. “It’s only been a few weeks, and I hesitate to say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s fixed.’ But the first few weeks of January we have gotten off to a really strong start, and it gives us increasing signs that this is going to be I think a very good year.”

    United’s first-quarter outlook projects total revenue per available seat mile to be approximately flat year over year, “which is a nice sequential improvement versus the past few quarters,” Nocella said. He credited ongoing strong domestic demand, business traffic volumes up year over year and “stronger pricing” so far in 2024.

    The carrier, however, also is forecasting for the first quarter a per-share loss of between 35 cents to 85 cents, mainly due to the grounding of its Boeing Max 737-9 fleet of 79 planes since Jan. 6 following theAlaska Airlines door-plug incident on Jan. 5. 

    The planes represent about 8 percent of United’s first-quarter capacity, United president Brett Hart said. In addition, because of the “close-in” cancellations, most of the expenses were fixed, and the carrier incurred additional interrupted trip expenses, United CFO Mike Leskinen said. For Q1, “we expect the combination of these items will increase CASM-ex by approximately 3 points,” he said. 

    United CEO Scott Kirby clarified on the earnings call that United was not canceling its order Boeing 737 Max-10 orders, a few hours after a Tuesday CNBC interview that called them into question. Kirby on CNBC said Boeing already was five years behind on original deliveries, and United was working on an alternative plan that didn’t have the Max-10s in it. 

    “We are taking it out of our internal plans,” Kirby said. “We’ll be working on what that means exactly with Boeing. But Boeing is not going to be able to meet their contractual deliveries on at least many of those airplanes. And I’ll just leave it at that.”

    Kirby added that Boeing is “one of the best engineering, they’re one of the best technology companies in history. … They’re going through a rough patch right now, but I believe that Boeing across the board from top to bottom is committed to changing and fixing it. It is going to impact United in the near term, … but there are great people there, and they will get it together.”

    United Q4, Full-Year 2023 Metrics

    United reported fourth-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, a 9.9 percent increase year over year. Full-year 2023 revenue was up 19.5 percent over 2022 to $53.7 billion, 

    Passenger revenue for the fourth quarter was up 10.9 percent to $12.4 billion and increased 22.5 percent for the year to more than $49 billion. Domestic passenger revenue for the quarter was up 6.9 percent year over year to nearly $7.7 billion. International passenger revenue for the period was up 18 percent to more than $4.7 billion. 

    Net income for the fourth quarter was $600 million, a decline from $843 million a year prior. Full-year net income was more than $2.6 billion, more than 3.5 times the $737 million reported in 2022.

    United served nearly 41.8 million passengers during the fourth quarter, up 9.2 percent year over year. For 2023, it reported nearly 165 million passengers, up 14.3 percent from 2022. Capacity for the quarter was up 14.7 percent versus Q4 2022, and for all of 2023 was up 17.5 percent year over year.

    The average fuel cost was $3.13 per gallon for the quarter and $3.01 for the year.

    RELATED: United Q3 performance

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  • Brex Cuts Workforce by 20 Percent

    Brex Cuts Workforce by 20 Percent

    Financial services and technology company Brex laid off 282 employees, about 20 percent of its workforce, and restructured its management organization on Tuesday as it seeks to “increase the intensity and quality of our execution,” founder and co-CEO Pedro Franceschi said in a memo to employees.

    In the memo, first reported by The Information, Franceschi said the aim is to build “a high-velocity product and growth machine” that requires the reductions. Brex launched as a corporate card product in 2017 and has expanded to a broader spend management platform, including a travel booking service launched in partnership with Spotnana last year. Brex currently serves “tens of thousands of businesses,” including “one in every three startups in the US,” Franceschi said in the memo.

    “Looking inward, I realized we grew our org too quickly, making it harder to move at the speed we once did,” according to Franceschi. “This year, we decided to take a hard look at our current structure and reduce the number of layers between leaders and the actual work that affects customers. This resulted in today’s hard decision.”

    Among the leadership changes, COO Michael Tannenbaum will leave that role and join the Brex board, with SVP of global operations Camilla Morais stepping up to the COO position. Chief technology officer Cosmin Nicolaescu will move to an advisory role this summer, and engineering director James Reggio will be promoted to VP of engineering. Both Reggio and Morais will report directly to Franceschi.

    The latest layoffs come after Brex laid off 136 people, or about 11 percent of its staff at the time, last October, according to TechCrunch.

    The memo indicated that Brex grew gross profit by 75 percent last year but “we still have a way to go to ensure high-velocity growth and profitability for years to come,” Franceschi said in the memo. “Combined, these changes enable us to get there and become cash flow positive with the money we have in the bank.”

    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Former AA Exec Benedetti Consulting with Blockskye

    Former AA Exec Benedetti Consulting with Blockskye

    Former American Airlines global head of corporate sales Hank Benedetti now is working with blockchain travel startup Blockskye as a consultant, Benedetti announced.

    He will help Blockskye CEO and co-founder Michael Share with business development and growth for the company, which is powering the Kayak for Business new Enterprise solution last year building off its pioneering work with PwC U.S. Benedetti is working with Blockskye in tandem with former American Airlines executive Cory Garner’s Garner Advisory.

    Benedetti was with American Airlines for more than two decades and left in September as part of a sales team restructuring with the airline.

    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Survey: European Cos. Exploring New Payment Methods

    Survey: European Cos. Exploring New Payment Methods

    About four in 10 European companies are exploring the introduction of new payment methods, according to an AirPlus survey of 534 purchasing managers in the region.

    The survey—which included purchasing managers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K.—showed that 38 percent of respondents already have introduced new payment methods to their companies, and 41 percent said they are considering it. Eleven percent of respondents said they had researched new payment methods but decided not to introduce them.

    About half of respondents said they are exploring or introducing payment methods primarily targeting traveling employees, according to AirPlus.

    Risk minimization was the top priority for European businesses in their payment tools, cited by 34 percent of respondents. That was followed by simplification of the payment process for employees and optimizing payment deadlines, each cited by 25 percent of respondents.

    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Wyndham, SBE to Launch Lifestyle Brand

    Wyndham, SBE to Launch Lifestyle Brand

    Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and the SBE hospitality group have created a lifestyle residential brand and plans to open 50 hotels by 2030, the companies announced Tuesday. 

    SBE, founded by Sam Nazarian, was acquired by Accor in 2020. Nazanin remains CEO of SBE. 

    The new brand, under the working title Project HQ Hotels & Residences, will include “approximately 7,500 rooms,” according to SBE and Wyndham. Project HQ properties will be split 50-50 among the United States and elsewhere, according to the companies. 

    The new brand will be “affiliated with Wyndham’s Registry Collection Hotels,” and will be included in the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program, the companies said. 

    Additionally, the companies plan 80 percent of Project HQ properties to be conversions, with new construction making up the remainder.

    The news marks the first hotel brand opening for SBE since the company was purchased.

    aplatas@thebtngroup.com (Angelique Platas)

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  • JetBlue, Spirit File Notice to Appeal Merger Denial

    JetBlue, Spirit File Notice to Appeal Merger Denial

    JetBlue and Spirit Airlines late on Friday jointly filed a
    notice of appeal of the Jan. 16 court
    decision denying the merger     of the two carriers, according to JetBlue and a
    filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

    JetBlue in a statement said the filing was “consistent
    with the requirements of the merger agreement.” Neither carrier provided
    further information.

    On Tuesday, the judge presiding over the civil antitrust lawsuit
    against JetBlue acquiring Spirit said in his ruling that “the consumers
    that rely on Spirit’s unique, low-price model would likely be harmed,” and
    that a merger of the two would “further consolidate an oligopoly by
    immediately doubling JetBlue’s stakeholder size in the industry,” and
    “would likely incentivize JetBlue further to abandon its roots as a
    maverick, low-cost carrier.”

    Spirit’s share price was up in after-hours trading after
    news of the appeal broke. JetBlue’s shares declined.

    RELATED:  Siding
    with DOJ, U.S. Judge Denies JetBlue’s Spirit Acquisition

    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Hawaiian Airlines to Offer NDC Content Via Sabre

    Hawaiian Airlines to Offer NDC Content Via Sabre

    After settling their breach-of-contract lawsuit earlier this week, Hawaiian Airlines and Sabre have signed a new distribution agreement that will offer the carrier’s New Distribution Capability content to Sabre-connected agencies, the travel technology company announced Thursday. The Hawaiian NDC content, dubbed HA Connect, is expected to be available by the end of 2024. 

    “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Sabre to expand our long-standing distribution partnership to not only EDIFACT but also HA Connect content once the technical connectivity has been implemented,” Hawaiian EVP and chief revenue officer Brent Overbeek said in a statement.

    It wasn’t immediately clear whether Hawaiian is maintaining the per-segment surcharge on global distribution system bookings of U.S. point-of-sale tickets; neither Hawaiian nor Sabre returned requests for clarification. 

    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Areka Selects Bacharach to Drive N. America Growth

    Areka Selects Bacharach to Drive N. America Growth

    Charlie Bacharach

    Areka Consulting has hired former Travel Leaders and Egencia executive Charlie Bacharach as an SVP leading business development in the North America region.

    Bacharach is charged with expanding Areka’s client base, implementing growth plans and growing services in the U.S., Mexico and Canada for the corporate travel, expense and meetings consultancy. He most recently was VP of worldwide sales for Travel Leaders Corporate and also has served as managing director for global and multinational accounts at Egencia and as VP of worldwide sales at Orbitz for Business prior to its acquisition by Expedia.

    “We look forward to continued growth in North America and are confident Charlie’s deep understanding of the region, combined with his expertise in the industry, will be pivotal in driving our expansion efforts forward,” Areka CEO and founding partner Pascal Jungfer said in a statement.

    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • IHG Names Harwood Americas Luxury SVP

    IHG Names Harwood Americas Luxury SVP

    InterContinental Hotels & Resorts has named long-time company executive Leanne Harwood senior vice president and managing director of its luxury and lifestyle division in the Americas, effective March 1, the hotel company announced Wednesday.

    In her new role, Harwood will manage “daily operations” of the sector and “drive performance and operations” of IHG’s six luxury and lifestyle brands in the region, the company said in a statement.

    Harwood currently is SVP and managing director of IHG’s Japan, Australasia and Pacific region—a position she has filled for more than six years, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

    Harwood has also served IHG as VP of operations in Southeast Asia and Korea; commercial VP of Asia, the Middle East and Africa; commercial VP of India, the Middle East and Africa; regional director of sales in multiple regions; and area director of sales, totaling more than 18 years with the hotel company. 

    aplatas@thebtngroup.com (Angelique Platas)

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  • STR: December U.S. Hotel RevPAR, ADR Inch Up

    STR: December U.S. Hotel RevPAR, ADR Inch Up

    Among U.S. hotels, revenue per available room and average daily rate in December showed modest year-over-year increases while occupancy slipped, according to hotel analytics firm STR.

    December U.S. hotel RevPAR was $79.42, up 0.3 percent year over year and down from $88.36 the month prior. December U.S. hotel ADR was $151.13, up 2.1 percent year over year and down slightly from $151.23 in November. 

    U.S. hotel occupancy in December was 52.6 percent, down 1.8 percent year over year and down from 58.4 percent the month prior.

    Across the board, the lower month-to-month metrics were “as expected” due to the holiday season, according to STR. 

    Among STR’s top 25 markets, New York City again reported the highest December occupancy level at 86.6 percent, which was up 4.3 percent year over year. Minneapolis and St. Louis again had the lowest occupancy among those cities, at 42.5 percent and 45.8 percent, respectively.

    Overall, the top 25 markets “showed higher occupancy and ADR than all other markets,” in December and for full-year 2023, according to STR.

    Full-Year 2023 Metrics

    In 2023, the U.S. hotel industry reported its highest annual RevPAR and ADR “on record,” according to STR. U.S. hotel RevPAR was $97.97 in 2023, up 4.9 percent year over year, and ADR was $155.62, up 4.3 percent. 

    Additionally, 2023 U.S. hotel occupancy was 63 percent, up 0.6 percent year over year and the country’s “highest since 2019,” according to STR.

    Among STR’s top 25 markets, New York City reported the highest performance levels across the board in 2023. New York RevPAR in 2023 was $245.77, up 18.1 percent year over year, while ADR was $301.22, up 8.5 percent. New York’s occupancy in 2023 was 81.6 percent, up 8.8 percent.

    RELATED: STR November 2023 results

    aplatas@thebtngroup.com (Angelique Platas)

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  • U.S. Travel: Business Travel Spending to Grow, but Slowly

    U.S. Travel: Business Travel Spending to Grow, but Slowly

    U.S. domestic business travel volume is projected to remain below pre-pandemic levels until 2026, while total business travel spending—both domestic and international—is not forecast to recover before 2028, according to a forecast released Wednesday by the U.S. Travel Association and prepared by Tourism Economics.

    U.S. Travel projects business travel volume and spend each to continue to grow year over year through 2027, the last year of the forecast, but at a declining rate each year. Global business travel spending is projected to reach $265.5 billion in 2024, nearly 87 percent of 2019 levels. By 2027, it is expected to reach $282.7 billion, 92.4 percent of pre-pandemic levels. 

    The U.S. Travel forecast is less optimistic than the one released by the Global Business Travel Association in August 2023. GBTA projected global business travel spend to exceed 2019 levels by the end of 2024 by about 6 percent.

    [Report continues below chart.]

    U.S. Travel projects slowing economic growth that “will hinder domestic business travel’s recovery.” Domestic business travel volume for 2024 is projected to be $442 million, about 95 percent of 2019 levels, up from 89 percent in 2023, according to U.S. Travel. For 2025 it is forecast to be within a hairsbreadth of recovery at 99 percent, then is expected to reach $473.7 million in 2026, about 2.1 percent above pre-pandemic levels.

    Domestic business travel spending for 2024 is projected to reach $236.8 billion, nearly 89 percent of 2019 levels. By 2027, that figure is forecast to be $252.8 billion, 93.8 percent of pre-pandemic spending.

    U.S international business travel spending also is not projected to fully recover during the timeline of the forecast. U.S. Travel forecasts $28.7 billion in U.S. international spending in 2024, about 78.8 percent of 2019 levels. By 2027, such spending is expected to reach $29.8 billion, still lagging recovery at about 82 percent of pre-pandemic levels. 

    The report comes about a week after U.S. Travel released findings that show the United States ranks 17th out of 18 top travel markets in terms of global competitiveness. 

    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Hubli, BeCause Partner for Venue Sustainability Data

    Hubli, BeCause Partner for Venue Sustainability Data

    Event booking platform Hubli will display sustainability certification and accreditation data for venues from sustainability data management startup BeCause under a new partnership, the companies announced Wednesday. 

    BeCause has gathered “hotel sustainability data from more than 60 accreditation bodies worldwide,” BeCause CEO and co-founder Frederik Steensgaard said during a webinar announcement of the partnership. Through access to BeCause’s API, Hubli users searching for meeting venues will be able to see that live certification information, as well as other data on venues’ environmental footprint.

    Along with certifications, Hubli users will see “more granular information such as carbon emissions, water consumption, EV charging stations … in real time” Steensgaard said. BeCause plans to “roll out support” for “many other attributes” this year, the company said.   

    Hubli has allowed venues to upload third-party sustainability accreditation, “while also connecting to environmental venue certification bodies such as Green Key,” according to Hubli. The company will maintain this capability, “particularly for non-hotel venues on the platform,” Hubli founder and CEO Ciaran Delaney said.

    aplatas@thebtngroup.com (Angelique Platas)

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