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  • Concur Travel Integrates HotelHub Tech for TMCs

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    SAP Concur has integrated HotelHub’s hotel content aggregation technology into SAP Concur’s Hotel Connector, which will enable travel management companies to improve access to their hotel content within Concur Travel, the company announced.

    With the HotelHub integration, TMCs can use its features within Concur Travel, including dynamic configuration and preferencing of both global distribution system and non-GDS hotel content, normalization and de-duplication of hotel content and PNR integration, according to Concur. It also includes enhanced search filter capabilities and the ability to display detailed property information. As such, TMCs can “drive more commercially advantageous bookings” through Concur Travel, the company said.

    “The HotelHub integration into SAP Concur’s Hotel Connector will empower TMCs to deliver the right content, in the right place, at the right price, and reinforce their value proposition to customers,” HotelHub chief commercial officer Paul Raymond said in a statement.

    Concur said joint customers of Concur and HotelHub have the implementation process underway for the integration, and the first launch should happen in the current quarter.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Choice Names McDonald’s Exec CCO

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    Joshua Sloser

    Choice Hotels International has named former McDonald’s and Hilton Worldwide executive Joshua Sloser its new chief commercial officer, effective immediately, the company announced Tuesday.

    Sloser, who reports directly to Choice president and CEO Patrick Pacious, replaces as CCO Robert McDowell, who departed the company in January.

    Sloser as CCO will “develop and implement the company’s commercial strategy, overseeing the digital channels including ChoiceHotels.com and mobile app, revenue management, third-party distribution  and customer service to drive business growth and market share,” Choice said in a statement. 

    Sloser most recently served as SVP of customer and commercial innovation for McDonald’s, a company with which he worked for nearly five years. Previously, his experience includes stints at Hilton, where he spent nearly nine years culminating as SVP of digital, and Travelocity. 

    “As we accelerate our global expansion and deepen customer engagement, Joshua’s proven ability to drive innovation, lead cross-functional teams, and deliver measurable commercial outcomes will be instrumental,” Pacious said in a statement.

    RELATED: Choice Hotels CCO McDowell to Depart

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    cdavis@thebtngroup.com (Chris Davis)

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  • Amex GBT Completes CWT Acquisition

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    American Express Global Business Travel has finally completed its long-running acquisition of fellow travel management company CWT—17 months after the deal was originally announced.

    Amex GBT has acquired CWT in a transaction worth $540 million, which was reduced earlier this year from the original valuation of $570 million in March 2024.

    Paul Abbott, CEO of Amex GBT, said: “Today marks the start of an exciting relationship with CWT customers. We will listen, build trust and deliver the choice, value and service they expect. This acquisition will generate greater investment capacity for our software and services and is expected to create significant shareholder value through efficiency gains.”

    The mega-merger of global TMCs had been delayed by an investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which started in June 2024 before the deal was eventually given the green light by the CMA in March 2025.

    The final major hurdle to the acquisition was an antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice, which had been due to go to trial in September before the case was suddenly dropped by the DOJ in July.

    During Amex GBT’s second quarter results presentation last month, Abbott said he was unable to provide any details on CWT’s financial performance until the deal closed. But Abbott was “very confident” that Amex GBT could achieve the original estimate of $155 million in synergies within three years following the acquisition.

    In a statement, Amex GBT said that CWT’s customers would now gain access to its platforms, including Neo and Egencia, as well as Select, which integrates with technology suppliers. 

    The TMC added that it would provide details on the financial impact of the CWT acquisition when it publishes its Q3 results in November.

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    Rob Gill

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  • With Corp. Demand Tepid, Sonesta Targets Specialization

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    Sonesta’s Brian Macaluso discusses:

    • Corporate demand trends
    • Changes to Sonesta’s business mix
    • The state of hotel staffing

    Sonesta International Hotels in the past five years has grown exponentially, from about 80 properties in 2020 to more than 1,200 today following the acquisition of Red Lion Hotels and other realignments. The hotel company has leaned into specialized segments, developing targeted programs for small and midsize businesses, medical meetings and government travel, among others. Sonesta SVP of global sales Brian Macaluso spoke with BTN managing editor Chris Davis last month at the Global Business Travel Association convention in Denver about the company’s evolving business mix, market approach and demand outlook. Edited excerpts follow.

    BTN: It’s been a bit of a turbulent year. What’s your read right now on where everything stands in terms of business travel?

    Brian Macaluso: At Sonesta individual business travel is still a little bit slower than expected. It hasn’t returned to where everybody thought it would be. So as we look forward, we see the year projections following what STR is saying. Everybody projected it to be a little bit more of a stronger year. And right now it’s a little bit lower than where it was expected to be.

    It’s not like it’s doom and gloom, and it’s not like it’s sunshine and roses. And some cities are stronger than others. Just like [U.S. Travel at its IPW trade show in June in Chicago] talked about for the leisure travel coming into the U.S., certain countries are stronger than they’ve ever been ,and it’s counterbalancing Canada being down. And so that’s how we’re looking at it too.

    BTN: Has Sonesta’s changes over the years altered who the typical Sonesta business traveler is?

    Macaluso: Sure. Sonesta had 50 hotels and three brands four and a half years ago, and now we have 1,100 hotels across 13 brands. During the pandemic, everything was driven by nurses and  [essential workers], and corporate travel was non-existent. As we’ve continued to move forward, we’ve enhanced our ability to welcome those travelers back. 

    We see more workforce travel, we see more displaced housing travel, and we see more extended-stay travel. We added economy, extended-stay, upscale and upper-upscale hotels. Sports has been a huge segment for us, and we developed an internal certification program that each one of our hotels takes to become Sonesta Sports certified.

    Government travel has been a huge segment that has propelled us. Obviously, at the beginning of this year it was down, but we’re seeing pockets that are still supportive. State government still continues to travel, and we saw a little bit of an impact from federal government, but we’re starting to see it come back. But we take all of our hotels through [a certification] we call Government Ready. There’s certain things that a hotel has to have in order to welcome government travelers, including CAGE Codes. So while we’ve added different hotel portfolio to welcome guests, we’ve also added training for the hotels to welcome new guests.

    BTN: Does that show up at the point of booking? Can you see that certification on the site?

    Macaluso: It depends on who they’re booking with. We’re still launching the government ready program, but we work with veterans quite a bit, work with the [U.S. Department of Defense and Drug Enforcement Administration], all those entities to make sure they know that we’re available. But the good thing is that [for government business], you won’t be able to book the hotel unless you have all of these qualifications. So we’re [preparing] the hotel to be prepared to welcome government business.

    We also signed a partnership with Meeting Professionals International on its Healthcare Meeting Compliance Certificate certification. Sonesta signed a partnership where we took all of our full-service Sonesta hotels through HMCC certification training. One person at each hotel becomes certified, and they went through a four-hour training class to make the hotel venue-verified. So now all of our full-service Sonesta hotels are venue-verified. When a meeting planner goes to book a hotel, they know these hotels are ready for medical meetings.

    BTN: Are you comfortable with the business mix Sonesta now between business, leisure and group? Are you trying to shift that mix in one direction or the other?

    Macaluso: In general, everybody would like business to come directly from their website. … We’re leaning into loyalty to help drive more loyal members for us. From a business mix perspective, we’re continuing to grow and evolve, but the main focus for us is to get the customers to come directly to the Sonesta website, become Sonesta loyalty members and drive that recognition because we want a guest to come and stay once and then come and stay again.

    BTN: Some buyers prefer travelers book through travel management companies or booking tools rather than direct. Does that create tension?

    Macaluso: I wouldn’t say tension. Our “Sonesta First” philosophy focuses on doing business with our customers the way they want to do business with us. if they choose to work with a TMC and they want to book through the GDS, we’ll make that available for them. If they want to book directly with us, we’ll make that available for them. If they want to book directly on our website using their corporate code, we’ll do that. Our Sonesta Global Preferred program gives a lot of our corporate travelers chainwide discounts, whether through [an online booking tool] or our website.

    BTN: How is transient request-for-proposals volume this year, and are you noticing anything different in that process?

    Macaluso: We see more off off-cycle RFPs, but in general, the volume of RFPs versus last year continues to increase. It’s increased year over year. Our goal is to get more exposure with all of our existing hotels as they grow. We’ve seen business cases increase for our hotels and more acceptances because [buyers are] seeing a Sonesta in a location that maybe they didn’t consider before. … We have a centralized RFP team that supports us.

    BTN: Are SMEs and infrastructure-related travelers using RFPs or are they booking more informally?

    Macaluso: It depends. A lot of smaller organizations will work directly with our hotels in the form of a local negotiated rate. Sonesta has a program called Sonesta Business Pass, which will allow an individual hotel to create a program to not only give them a negotiated rate at their hotel, but then give them a chainwide discount to use at any hotel throughout Sonesta.

    A lot of our TMC partners have specific curated SME programs. We’re seeing a lot of SMEs, instead of coming directly to the hotel to book directly, are partnering with the TMC. We’ll work with them either way, because a lot of our larger corporate accounts do the same thing.

    BTN: For a lot of hotel companies, staffing shortages were a major concern post-pandemic. Is it still?

    Macaluso: Staffing was a huge challenge from the pandemic, we’ve leaned into quality assurance with each of our hotels, quality assurance audits to make sure they’re upholding the standards of what a Royal Sonesta is, what a Sonesta is, what an ES is. Three years ago, staffing challenges would’ve been probably the biggest topic. … There’s always going to be a staffing question, but from us, from a quality-service perspective, it’s not something that’s hindering us.

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    businesstravelnews@ntmllc.com (Business Travel News)

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  • IATA: July Air Demand ‘Momentum’ Accelerates

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    Total July air passenger traffic demand, as measured in revenue passenger kilometers, increased 4 percent year over year, according to the International Air Transport Association, accelerating from a smaller such increase in June.

    “It’s been a good northern summer season for airlines,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement.

    Total July global capacity as measured in available seat kilometers increased 4.4 percent year over year, and the July load factor declined 0.4 percentage points to 85.2 percent.

    July international demand increased 5.3 percent year over year, while capacity increased 5.8 percent. The international load factor was 85.6 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from July 2024.

    “Momentum has grown over the peak season,” according to Walsh. “That trend appears across all regions and is particularly evident for international travel, which strengthened from 3.9 percent growth in June to 5.3 percent in July.”

    Domestic demand in July increased 1.9 percent from July 2024, while capacity was up 2.4 percent. The July domestic load factor was 85.2 percent, down 0.4 percentage points year over year.

    [Report continues below chart.]

    Total July demand increased year over year in every global region, according to IATA. The sharpest increase was in Latin America at 7.2 percent, followed by the Asia-Pacific region at 5.7 percent. July international demand also increased year over year in every global region.

    July U.S. domestic air travel demand increased 1.5 percent year over year, the largest such monthly increase since January. Domestic July demand increased in each of the large countries in IATA’s report, except India, for which data was unavailable. Brazil posted the sharpest increase at 7.5 percent.

    RELATED: IATA June 2025 passenger air performance data

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    cdavis@thebtngroup.com (Chris Davis)

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  • JTB Agrees to Acquire BTN Parent Northstar Travel Group

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    Japanese travel agency and travel solutions provider JTB Corp. has agreed to acquire Northstar Travel Group, BTN’s parent company, the companies announced late Thursday. 

    Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies expect the deal to close in September, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

    Upon closing, the companies said Northstar would operate as a wholly owned, independent subsidiary of JTB and be led by its existing management team, including CEO Jason Young.

    In addition to BTN and portfolio mate The Beat, Northstar operates several travel media brands, including Travel Weekly and Phocuswright, and events including the Business Travel Show, American Lodging Industry Summit and The Meetings Show. 

    JTB agreed to acquire Northstar from investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital and its co-investors.

    “We are thrilled to partner with JTB as we enter the next phase of our company’s incredible history,” Young said in a statement. “Our shared commitment to the travel industry, cultural alignment and collective expertise—combined with the opportunity to accelerate Northstar’s geographic expansion in the Asia-Pacific region—will enhance our ability to deliver value to our audiences and customers as we advance our mission.”

    JTB in a statement said the deal would further its growth strategy, “which includes geographic expansion and targeted investments in events, information services, market intelligence, and other strategic lines of business associated with the travel industry.”

    “Today’s announcement marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for JTB Group,” JTB Group president and CEO Eijiro Yamakita said in a statement. “Northstar brings outstanding expertise and fresh perspectives that perfectly align with our strategic vision. By operating Northstar as an independent subsidiary, we preserve their neutral market position while creating a powerful platform for delivering superior customer experiences. We are confident this structure will unlock significant growth potential while contributing to the innovation and future growth of the travel industry.”

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    businesstravelnews@ntmllc.com (Business Travel News)

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  • STR: July U.S. Hotel Occupancy, Rate Down

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    U.S. hotel occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room each declined year over year in August, hotel analytics firm STR announced Thursday.

    U.S. occupancy in July declined 1 percent year over year to 68.2 percent, according to STR, marking the fifth straight month of occupancy decline. U.S. ADR dipped 0.1 percent year over year to $161.90, and RevPAR dropped 1.1 percent to $110.37.

    STR said its top 25 markets “showed higher occupancy and ADR than all other markets.”

    For the fourth straight month, New York City registered the highest June occupancy rate among STR’s top 25 U.S. cities at 85.2 percent, though that figure was down 1.1 percent year over year. New Orleans in July for the third straight month posted the lowest occupancy rate among STR’s top 25 at 53.9 percent, followed by Phoenix at 55.3 percent.

    STR parent CoStar and Tourism Economics earlier this month downgraded their U.S. hotel forecast for both full-year 2025 and 2026, citing lower demand. 

    RELATED: STR June 2025 U.S. hotel performance figures

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    cdavis@thebtngroup.com (Chris Davis)

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  • Amex GBT: Economic, Geopolitical Uncertainty to Limit 2026 Hotel Rate Hikes

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    Most global regions will see moderate hotel rate growth in 2026, with geopolitical instability and uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy “keeping a lid” on sharper increases, according to American Express Global Business Travel’s Hotel Monitor, published on Wednesday.

    The Monitor—based on data from Amex GBT’s data lake along with inflation and GDP forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, modeled with open-source software Prophet—projects North America will be among those regions with moderate rate growth, particularly in the U.S., which could see a downturn in inbound demand. The Monitor forecasts that Mexico also will see only moderate increases with a strong hotel construction pipeline, while Canada’s rate growth could be higher. Toronto has the highest projected rate increase for the region in the Monitor, up 5.8 percent year over year, followed by Chicago (4.2 percent), New York and San Francisco (each 4 percent).

    Amex GBT projects “relatively stable” hotel prices in Europe, though certain cities will have sharper increases due to changing policies. Short-term rental restrictions in Amsterdam—which also is seeing VAT increases—and Barcelona could help push up rates in those cities by 11 percent and 5.1 percent year over year, respectively, according to the Monitor. Rate increases also are likely to be higher in the U.K. due to increases to employer national insurance contributions, which will increase the wages that hoteliers pay employees. Amex GBT projects rates will increase 4.2 percent year over year in London, 3.9 percent in Manchester and 5.7 percent in Edinburgh.

    In the Asia/Pacific region, Amex GBT projects strong rate growth for India, though not as high as rate increases this year. That includes a 6.4 percent year-over-year rate increase in Bengaluru, a 5.7 percent increase in Hyderabad and a 5.3 percent increase in Mumbai. The Monitor projects more moderate increases in China with some cities seeing rate declines, including Guangzhou, where it projects rates will decline 0.7 percent year over year.

    Latin America hotels should have a “strong 2026” with growing demand from international visitors, according to Amex GBT. The Monitor projects rates to increase year over year by 5.6 percent in Buenos Aires, 5 percent in Rio de Janeiro, 2 percent in Bogotá and 0.9 percent in Santiago.

    In the Middle East and Africa, Amex GBT projects moderate rate increases due to a strong construction pipeline in the Middle East. That includes a year-over-year rate increase of 3.1 percent in Abu Dhabi, 1.4 percent in Doha, 2 percent in Dubai and 2.3 percent in Riyadh. The Monitor projects a sharper rate increase of 4.7 percent year over year in Cape Town, which has “high occupancy and a limited supply of hotels with security accreditation,” according to the Monitor.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Accor Names Marriott Vet Alex South Asia CEO

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    Ranju Alex

    French hospitality giant Accor has named former Marriott International executive Ranju Alex as CEO of its South Asia region, which is comprised by India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, effective Oct. 1, the company announced Wednesday.

    Alex has spent nearly 15 years in Marriott positions in India, culminating in her most recent position as regional vice president for South Asia. She has an additional 15 years of experience with Oberoi Hotels and Resorts.

    Accor earlier this year announced it planned a joint venture with Indian conglomerate InterGlobe Enterprises that would manage both companies’ hotel assets in India. The companies continue to await regulatory approval for the JV. Gaurav Bhushan, who serves as CEO of Accor’s Lifestyle & Leisure brands and who would chair the JV once approved, in a statement cited Alex’s “wealth of rich experience, skills and relationships,” adding  that “we look forward to building the foremost hospitality platform in the region under her leadership.”

    Accor has about 70 hotels in the Southeast Asia region and an additional 30 in the development pipeline, according to the company.

    A spokesperson confirmed to BTN that Accor COO for Asia Garth Simmons would remain in that role, with responsibilities outside of the four countries that make up the South Asia region.

    RELATED: Accor, Top IndiGo Shareholder to Form Indian Hotel Venture

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    cdavis@thebtngroup.com (Chris Davis)

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  • Delta to Add European Routes from Boston

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    Delta Air Lines for summer 2026 will launch two new nonstop routes between Boston and Europe and move up start dates for two other routes, the carrier announced Wednesday.

    The airline said it would launch on May 16 daily Boston-Madrid service, and on May 17 flights between Boston and Nice, France, operating three times weekly each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. With these additions, Delta will serve 12 European destinations from Boston next summer.

    In addition, Delta said it would launch on May 7 daily flights between Boston and Barcelona, moving up the planned start date next year and increasing the frequency of the route from four times weekly, according to the carrier. Flights between Boston and Milan, operating four times weekly, will begin on May 16, sooner in the season than they did this past summer, according to Delta.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Expensify Adds Central Billing, Event Mgmt. to Travel Platform

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    Expensify has added new features to its Expensify Travel platform, including central billing and expense management capabilities, the company announced.

    The central billing capability lets users pay for travel on a central company card or a card configured for a team and designate what can be paid for on that card. That enables users to get real-time visibility into bookings and to have stricter controls to prevent fraud, according to Expensify.

    With the event management feature, users can share customized booking links for events and track RSVPs within the Expensify Travel dashboard. The tool also offers templates for recurring events, such as candidate visits.

    In addition, the update includes an employee itinerary feature, in which bookings can be automatically grouped by trip in the Expensify app, and admins can book on behalf of others with automated expense routing, according to Expensify.

    Expensify launched its travel platform, built on Spotnana technology, last year and has reported continued growth on the platform since the launch.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Flight Centre: Corp. TTV Up Even as Clients Limit Spending

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    Flight Centre Travel Group reported a 2 percent year-over-year increase in total transaction value for its corporate travel brands during its 2025 fiscal year amid what the company called a “challenging global trading cycle.”

    TTV for Flight Centre’s corporate business in the fiscal year, which ended June 30, was A$12.3 billion (US$8 billion), which Flight Centre said was a record. Growth, however, was “reasonably modest in a flat global market,” which included current clients reducing travel budgets. Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said the broader challenges to the group are “generally cyclical and potentially short-term in nature.”

    “While we expect some ongoing turbulence early in FY26, we are also starting to see signs of stabilization, which mirrors our experiences after other cyclical downturns,” Turner said in an earnings release.

    Both of Flight Centre’s corporate brands reported client growth, with FCM adding contracted accounts totaling A$1.3 billion (US$846.3 million) during the fiscal year and Corporate Traveler’s TTV reaching about A$4.8 billion (US$3.1 billion), making it the group’s largest revenue generator behind only the Flight Centre brand. In the U.S., Corporate Traveler reported 12 percent TTV growth year over year during the second half of the fiscal year.

    Flight Centre expects that client growth to continue in the 2026 fiscal year, with Corporate Traveler’s TTV in the U.S. increasing 20 percent year over year in July. The company also said FCM would benefit from industry consolidation—with the American Express Global Business Travel acquisition of CWT expected to close in the current quarter—and FCM “is already seeing increased [request-for-proposals] activity and interest.”

    At the same time, Flight Centre said its corporate businesses are operating with a “leaner workforce,” with a reduction of about 6 percent of full-time employees over the two years leading up to the end of the 2025 fiscal year. The company said cost savings from staff reductions are being reallocated to digital spending and will “drive further productivity growth.”

    Across all its businesses, Flight Centre Travel Group reported A$24.5 billion (US$15.9 billion) in TTV, up 3 percent year over year. Profit before taxes was A$289.1 million, down 9.8 percent year over year but “in line with revised expectations,” according to the group.

    RELATED: Flight Centre’s FY2025 first-half results

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • CTM Delays Earnings, Suspends Trading Amid Accounting Fix

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    Corporate Travel Management has delayed the release of its 2025 fiscal year results as it addresses an auditing issue with its financial reporting, the travel management company announced.

    CTM said its auditors informed the company on Aug. 22 that it might need to adjust the timing of when certain revenues and costs were recognized between the 2025 fiscal year and prior reporting periods. The adjustment “is isolated to the European region only” and would likely “be to increase prior year(s) earnings and reduce current year’s earnings,” according to CTM.

    The TMC is hiring a third-party firm to review past financial statements and said, as a result of that work, it said it would be unable to report its earnings as scheduled for Thursday. It instead plans to release its 2025 fiscal year earnings by Sept. 25.

    CTM also has voluntarily suspended trading of its securities on the Australian Securities Exchange “until a definitive position on the restated accounts and its FY25 accounts are released.”

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Amex GBT: Q2 Business Travel Price Hikes Accelerate

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    Overall business travel cost increases accelerated in the second quarter, with hotel rates in major cities for business travel expected to rise further in 2026, according to American Express Global Business Travel’s Business Travel Pulse report, published on Tuesday.

    The Pulse’s business travel price index—based on data from Amex GBT’s data lake combined with analysis by its consulting team—shows that business travel prices were up 2.6 percent year over year in the second quarter, up from a 0.6 percent year-over-year increase in the first quarter. The index score gives airfares a weight of 65 percent, hotel rates a weight of 25 percent and the remaining 10 percent split evenly between rail and car rental prices.

    The report also highlighted the cities that are projected to see the largest increases in hotel prices in 2026, using its data along with inflation and GDP forecasts from the International Monetary Fund and modeled with open-source software Prophet. In North America, Amex GBT projects the largest increases will be in Toronto (5.8 percent) and New York (4 percent). In Europe, Amex GBT projects hotel prices will increase 4.8 percent year over year in Madrid, 4.2 percent year over year in London, 3.7 percent year over year in Berlin and 2.4 percent year over year in Paris.

    Other global cities in the report projected to have hotel cost increases above 4 percent year over year include Buenos Aires (5.6 percent), Rio de Janeiro (5 percent), Cape Town (4.7 percent) and Bengaluru (6.4 percent).

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • BizTrip.AI Adds Cerebri AI Data Sets to Offering

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    Newly launched business travel assistant BizTrip.AI is partnering to make data engineering and analytics provider Cerebri AI’s data sets available to travelers using the assistant, the companies announced.

    Founded by Yapta co-founder Tom Romary and Google Brain co-founder Andrew Ng as well as AI entrepreneur Scott Persinger, BizTrip.AI launched last month as a tool to help travelers book travel in conversational style using historical data and traveler preferences. With its new collaboration, that process can be informed by Cerebri AI’s data assets, which include data from travel management companies, online booking tools, payment tools, expense reports and human resources.

    That ensures BizTrip.AI is operating on “reliable, accurate travel booking data,” Romary said in a statement.

    “Working with Cerebri AI, we don’t worry about the bad data issues that often bedevil many corporate travel programs,” according to Romary. “Their data underpins a broad range of managed travel programs and is utilized at a global scale.”

    At the time of its launch, BizTrip.AI announced Moderna as one of its initial clients, along with Colorado-based TMC Cain Travel.

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    mbaker@thebtngroup.com (Michael B. Baker)

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  • Sonder Notes Revenue, Portfolio Decline in Delayed Q1 Results

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    Apartment-style accommodations provider Sonder Holdings has released its delayed first-quarter results, in which it detailed lower year-over-year revenue and a sharp decrease in its bookable inventory.

    Sonder for the past 18 months has delayed filing quarterly financial reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after announcing in March 2024 that it had discovered “accounting errors related to the valuation and impairment of operating lease right of use assets and related items” for 2022 and 2023.

    Nasdaq has warned the delays have risked Sonder’s listing, and the accommodations provider this week noted it had received on Aug. 20 another such warning from Nasdaq concerning its delayed second-quarter filing. 

    Sonder in its first-quarter filing noted its live bookable units at the end of March totaled about 9,400, down about 500 units from the end of 2024. The company’s bookable nights were 858,000, a decrease of 21 percent year over year. Sonder in 2024 began an effort to reduce room supply, exiting buildings and leases representing thousands of units. 

    Along with the supply decrease, Sonder’s first-quarter occupancy rate increased 7.1 percentage points year over year to 83 percent. Average daily rate increased $4 to $167, and revenue per available room increased 13 percent to $139.

    Sonder’s overall first-quarter revenue, however, declined 11 percent year over year to $118.9 million. Its net loss was $56.5 million, compared with a net loss of $50.5 million one year prior. 

    RELATED: Sonder Q4 performance

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    cdavis@thebtngroup.com (Chris Davis)

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  • JetBlue Adds Condor to TrueBlue Loyalty Program

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    Customers of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program now can earn and redeem points on flights operated by Frankfurt-based carrier Condor, JetBlue announced Tuesday. 

    Condor currently operates nonstop service to Frankfurt through nine U.S. gateways, including New York John F. Kennedy, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., and Anchorage, Alaska, according to JetBlue. 

    In addition, JetBlue is ending both its loyalty agreement with TAP Air Portugal and its interline and loyalty partnership with Hawaiian Airlines, the carrier confirmed. 

    The interline agreement between JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal agreement will remain in place, but JetBlue customers will not be able to book TAP flights to earn or redeem TrueBlue points after Sept. 30, 2025, according to JetBlue. All retroactive point requests also must be submitted by Sept. 30. All existing bookings made prior to Sept. 30 will be honored.

    The last day JetBlue customers can book Hawaiian Airlines flights to earn or redeem TrueBlue points also will be Sept. 30, and travel must be completed by March 31, 2026. The deadline to submit any retroactive requests to earn TrueBlue points on Hawaiian also is March 31, according to JetBlue.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Wheels Up Adds Three Commercial Hires

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    Wheels Up has appointed three new hires to report to Mark Briffa, the company’s recently named chief sales officer, the carrier announced Tuesday. Each appointment is effective immediately. 

    Tanya Weed now is Wheels Up’s director of new business. Weed has more than 15 years in private aviation, most recently with VistaJet, where she was SVP of sales and “played a pivotal role in building the company’s U.S. presence,” according to Wheels Up.

    Maris Kuklis has taken on the role of business development manager for Air Partner, a Wheels Up subsidiary. Kuklis has experience in aviation, tourism and business development and previously supported global expansion initiatives at JetBlue, and also has experience with Etihad Airways, according to Wheels Up.

    Luigi Contessi now is the regional business development director for Air Partner. Contessi has more than 30 years of executive experience across airlines, charter brokers and private aviation companies, according to Wheels Up. He also founded Ubefly, specializing in private jet and group charters.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Southwest Makes EVA Air Third Int’l Partner

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    Southwest Airlines has partnered with EVA Air, making the Taiwan-based airline its third international partner, the Dallas-based carrier announced Tuesday. 

    The carriers will jointly operate itineraries between North America and Asia connecting through their shared gateway airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma and Chicago O’Hare, according to Southwest.

    Southwest in February launched its first international partnership with Icelandair, and has since expanded the gateways included in that agreement. In June, the carrier announced China Airlines would be its second international partner.

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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  • Korean Air OKs $36B Boeing Aircraft Purchase

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    Korean Air has agreed to purchase 103 Boeing aircraft in a deal worth approximately $36.2 billion, the carrier announced Monday. The deal also includes engines and a maintenance program worth an additional $13.8 billion.

    The aircraft purchase includes 20 Boeing 777-9 planes, 25 787-10 planes, 50 737-10 planes and eight 777-8F freighters. The aircraft are scheduled for a phased delivery through the end of 2030, according to Korean Air. The investment plan, though, “extends into the mid-to-late 2030s, and reflects delivery delays affecting the global aviation industry,” according to the carrier.

    The acquisition is a “proactive measure to support Korean Air’s long-term growth following its integration with Asiana Airlines,” the carrier said, adding that its fleet strategy is to “standardize its long-term operations” around five aircraft families: Boeing 777, 787 and 737 planes, and with Airbus A350 and A321neo aircraft. 

    Korean Air completed the acquisition of Asiana Airlines in December 2024. 

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    dairoldi@thebtngroup.com (Donna M. Airoldi)

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