JULY 12, 2010
INSIDE
Still-Spilling Oil Threatens Broader Impact . . 3
Four Seasons Icon Sharp Steps Down As CEO . 4
Next Generation Of Agent Desktops Nears . . 6
BTNonline.com
NORTHSTAR
BTN Research: Online Booking Use . . . . . . 10
K Hotels Sees Hotel Network Growth . . . . 16
SKYTEAM TESTS
IT APPROACH
Leo van Wijk leads
deepening alliance
cooperation.
4 8 14
TSA FINALLY
GETS A HEAD
Former FBI director
John Pistole takes
travel security reins.
MCKESSON USES
MESSAGING
Yoichi Miyazaki
making the most of
online booking.
TMCs Reject AA
Direct Connect
Boston means business for JetBlue as it outpaces its competitors in offering service from the New England city.
Postmaster: Newspaper Handling/Periodicals Postaage
Six years ago, JetBlue Airways offered only 11 daily flights from two gates at Boston Lo-
gan International Airport, a modest
presence that turned the heads of
few corporate travel buyers. Now,
the carrier is offering more service
from the city than any of its com-
petitors, growing at a clip of 30
percent this year alone and making
the city a focal point of its burgeon-
JetBlue Targets Boston
For Corporate Expansion
BY JAY BOEHMER
Continued on page 21
ONE-ON-ONE
BEST WESTERN CEO
DAVID KONG
Hotel Demand Rising Best Western International CEO David Kong recently spoke with BTN hotel editor Michael B. Baker about the chain’s recently introduced escriptor program, corpo- rate demand and the impact on groups from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BTN: Now that travel buy- ers are about to begin send- Continued on page 18
BY JAY BOEHMER
When American Airlines last month launched an option for passengers to pay an extra fee in exchange for prior-
ity boarding, discounted change fees and more
flexible flight standby, it sounded like so many
other fee-for-service initiatives airlines have
deployed in recent years. However, American’s
move is different in one key way: It is the first a
la carte offering the carrier is selling exclusively
through direct channels at the time of booking,
effectively leaving the new “Boarding and Flex-
ibility Package” out of the hands of corporate
travelers unless their agencies opt into the con-
troversial American Airlines Direct Connect.
Depending on your view, the move is either
the only efficient way for American to sell ancil-
lary services, renewed posturing by the carrier
before its global distribution contracts expire
next year or an inefficient workaround poised
to bedevil GDSs, travel management compa-
nies and travel buyers.
The Boarding and Flexibility Package is only
one component of AA’s newly branded Your
Choice suite, announced last month, which AA
director of merchandising strategy Cory Garner
described as the carrier’s “umbrella brand for
our optional services.” The suite also includes
such previously available optional services
as inflight Internet access, Admirals Club day
passes and confirmed flight changes, among
others. However, those services still can be
Continued on page 20
