We all learned in August that American Express and HRG separately agreed "in principle" to explore American Airlines' direct connect, but further details have been elusive. Comments made during AMR's earnings conference call on Wednesday weren't exactly revealing, but chief commercial officer Virasb Vahidi provided an update of sorts.
A Texas district court this week denied
Travelport's request to dismiss American Airlines' antitrust suit, which since its original filing has grown to also include Sabre as a defendant. Though it will proceed, the suit won't move as quickly as AA would like, as the judge also denied the carrier's request to expedite proceedings.
It has been widely documented that this would be the year of the
new normal for the business of managing travel; firmer policies would continue to prevail as budgets remain tightly managed and return on investment (ROI) would become a standard metric. This expectation offers the industry another opportunity to optimize and create increased relevance in the C-suite.
Southwest Airlines ranked first on Glassdoor.com's list for 2010 of the
50 best places to work, "selected by the people who know these companies best--their employees," according to Glassdoor. Fellow travel industry companies Continental Airlines placed eighth and Marriott snuck in at 50th.
On top of noting that card delinquencies were stabilizing and that in his view,
American Express is relatively protected from new card legislation because of lower dependence on revolving consumer credit cards, American Express chairman and CEO Ken Chenault this week emphasized the company's "power alleys" of premium, reward and co-brand products as well as corporate services. Here are some of his other comments at Wednesday's Keefe, Bruyette & Woods conference:
