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INDUSTRY NEWS & PEOPLE  March 2008
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Accor Announces String Of Conversions To Motel 6
Accor North America has announced a string of conversions to the Motel 6 brand over the past two weeks. The newly-converted economy hotels are located in Collinsville, IL, formerly a Best Western; Las Vegas, formerly Good Day Inn; McDonough, GA, formerly Country Heart Inn; and Waukegan, IL, formerly a Budget Inn. The new Motel 6s in Mission, TX, and Ponca City, OK, are both new construction.
Standard amenities at Motel 6 properties include free local phone calls, no long distance access charges, data ports, and free morning coffee.
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Air One Receives Approval To Fly To US From Milan
The US Department of Transportation has approved plans by Italian low-fare carrier Air One to launch service to the US from Milan's Malpensa Airport. The airline intends to serve Boston and Chicago beginning June 14.
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AirPlus Study Reveals '08 Uptick In Business Travel
Fifty-eight percent of travel managers have reported that their companies' number of business trips will increase in 2008, according to a travel management study by AirPlus, a provider of business travel payment solutions. Just 8 percent of travel managers expected travel volume to drop, and the rest expected volume to stay the same as the year before.
Fifty-three percent expect their travel expenses to rise in 2008, and 13 percent forecast them to drop. The US remains the most fearful of higher expenses (76 percent), says AirPlus. Unlike last year's study, tackling cost was considered the top priority of travel management in all 10 surveyed markets and by 54 percent of all respondents, AirPlus notes. The main method of payment for expenses incurred during trips is a corporate card (58 percent), followed by a private credit card (35 percent). Other payment methods sanctioned by companies include upfront cash payment (25 percent), invoice/remittance (23 percent) and cash advance (10 percent).
AirPlus surveyed 1,000 travel managers in 10 countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, the U.K. and the U.S.) for its study.
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AirTran Adds Flights From Baltimore
AirTran will add a daily roundtrip between Baltimore/Washington International and Seattle/Tacoma International on May 6. The low-cost carrier will also add daily flights between Baltimore and the following destinations on June 11: Los Angeles and Portland, Maine.
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AirTran Launches San Juan Service
AirTran has launched daily service from Atlanta and Orlando to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The airline will add a second daily roundtrip between Orlando and San Juan on April 9.
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Alitalia's Board Accepts Air France-KLM’s Buyout Offer
Alitalia's board of directors has approved Air France-KLM's $1.1 billion takeover bid. Air France-KLM is proposing to acquire 100 percent of the capital of Alitalia via an exchange of one Air France-KLM share for every 160 Alitalia shares, which amounts to 8.7 million Air France-KLM shares for 100 percent of Alitalia, a transaction worth about $216 million. Air France-KLM also proposes to acquire the convertible bonds issued by Alitalia at their current market value of 0.3145 euros per bond, or a total of 608 million euros (about $948 million).
Air France-KLM plans to restructure and relaunch Alitalia. It wants to build a network organized around the Rome-Fiumicino hub and selected intercontinental destinations operating from Milan. Alitalia will return to operating profit as early as 2009, says Air France-KLM, and will "rapidly move to operating margin levels in line with those of other major European airlines."
The closing of the deal is based on a number of conditions, including the endorsement of Alitalia's shareholders; the endorsement of the Italian government, which will tender its shares and bonds; the agreement of Alitalia's unions; and the authorization of competition authorities.
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Aloft Starts Accepting Bookings
Starwood’s Aloft brand has begun taking reservations for five hotels. The hotels are in Charleston, SC (opening September 4); Lexington, MA (September 1); Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga, CA (August 14); Philadelphia (October 8) and Rogers-Bentonville, AR (August 14). Customers can book at Alofthotels.com or through travel agents.
Aloft, Starwood’s new select-service brand, will sport hotels with an urban-influenced layout featuring loft-like rooms with nine-foot ceilings and oversized windows. The brand says it has 60 announced hotel developments.
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Aloha Airlines Blames Competitor For Chapter 11 Filing
Aloha Airlines has filed a voluntary petition for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Aloha has received bankruptcy court approval to continue operating as usual.
In its filing, Aloha cited its inability to generate sufficient revenue from its inter-island passenger business in Hawaii, due to "predatory pricing" by Mesa Air Group's Go subsidiary. "In the highly competitive inter-island market, Aloha was forced to match Go's below-cost fares at a time when the airline industry was facing unprecedented increases in the cost of jet fuel," says Aloha.
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Amadeus Offers Health Info Service To Agencies At 25% Commission
Amadeus has agreed to provide HTH Worldwide's global health and safety databases to Amadeus' travel agency subscribers in North America. The agreement enables Amadeus subscribers in the US and Canada to earn up to 25 percent commission selling subscriptions to HTH Mobile Health to their clients.
Through HTH Worldwide subscriptions, travelers will be able to find out where to seek emergency or urgent care, find out how to fill prescriptions, look up profiles of English-speaking doctors in a wide range of specialties, learn emergency numbers and vaccination requirements, and translate medications and medical conditions. Clients can access HTH's global healthcare and safety information via their wireless mobile devices, laptops or desktop computers.
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American Airlines Launches Facebook Application
American Airlines has been swept up in the social-networking craze, as the airline this week introduced Travel Bag, a Facebook application that enables users to share travel experiences with friends in their network. American says it is the first major airline to launch a Facebook application. To download the American Airlines application on a Facebook page, users visit Facebook's web site and search for "Travel Bag" in the application directory.
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American Express Sells Banking Subsidiary
American Express has completed the sale of its international banking subsidiary, American Express Bank, to Standard Chartered PLC for about $823 million. The sale does not include the company's card or travel businesses, nor does it include international financial services businesses that operate separately from American Express Bank. American Express Bank serves financial institutions and individuals of high net worth through its global correspondent banking and full-service private banking businesses operating in 47 countries.
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American Express To Acquire GE Corporate Payment Services
American Express Company has agreed to purchase GE Money's Corporate Payment Services for $1.1 billion in cash. The sale also includes the purchase of GE's patented vPayment technology, which provides fast and efficient payment for large ticket purchases. This platform provides unique account numbers for each transaction that expire once the purchase has been authorized. As a result, vPayment permits the processing of large transactions with effective fraud controls. The sale, which is subject to customary closing conditions and certain regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Corporate Payment Services, GE's commercial card and corporate purchasing business unit, was created in 1992 to issue GE's corporate travel and
entertainment cards and purchasing cards to GE employees. It has expanded to serve more than 300 large corporate clients, generating more than $14 billion in 2007 global purchase volume and maintaining $1.1 billion in receivables at year end 2007. Its billed business has grown at a compounded rate of 18 percent over the last five years.
GE, which continues to be the unit's largest single client, has signed a multi-year agreement to become a client of American Express.
For American Express, the agreement is part of an ongoing strategy to focus on the payments sector and follows the sale last month of its international banking subsidiary. Corporate Payment Services' products are similar to those offered by American Express' commercial card business, which handles the travel, entertainment and purchasing spending by employees of large corporations and mid-sized companies. Accounts are typically paid in full at the end of each month, rather than through a revolving credit account.
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American Says Goodbye To Gatwick
American Airlines will move all of its London Gatwick flights to Heathrow when the new open-skies agreement between the US and the European Union takes effect March 30. The move will result in the closure of American’s Gatwick operations after 26 years of service. American says all of its Gatwick employees have been offered jobs at other London locations.
One of American’s two daily Dallas/Fort Worth flights and the daily flight from Raleigh-Durham, NC, will move on March 30. The last Dallas flight will transfer from Gatwick to Heathrow on April 13. American will continue to serve London Stansted from New York and will add a second daily New York-Stansted roundtrip on August 1.
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American Upgrades Mobile Capabilities To Web Site
American Airlines has added new features to the mobile version of AA.com. Travelers can now book flights, view fare specials, request upgrades, enroll in the frequent-flyer program and purchase one-day club passes from web-enabled cell phones or other web-enabled handhelds.
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ANA Ups Tokyo-Mumbai Business Jet Service
All Nippon Airways' business jet service between Tokyo and Mumbai will be increased daily, starting April 12. A second aircraft will be added in order to increase the service to a daily frequency from the original six weekly flights.
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ARC Offers Travel Agents Car Rental Booking Tool
CarTrawler, a provider of a low-cost car rental distribution system, and Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) have agreed to deliver the CarTrawler platform to US travel agency locations and corporate travel departments. The deal enables CarTrawler to become a part of ARC Marketplace, ARC’s online shopping area for non-air products. ARC and CarTrawler say the move will enable more than 20,000 ARC-accredited travel agents in the US to earn “more car rental commissions.”
ARC says home-based travel agents who don’t have GDS contracts might find the CarTrawler service particularly attractive.
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ATA Departs Chicago Midway
ATA Airlines will discontinue domestic scheduled service at Chicago Midway on April 14; its service to Mexico will cease on June 7. ATA says the high-cost of fuel has made it too difficult to offer a low-fare service out of Midway. The departure from Chicago and the elimination of Mexico service would leave West Coast-Hawaii flights as ATA's only remaining scheduled service; the airline also has a charter business.
Domestic markets affected by the discontinuation of Chicago service include Oakland and Dallas/Fort Worth. The elimination of Mexico service will affect flights to Cancun and Guadalajara.
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Banyan Signs Up For Trust's CRS Technology
Asia's Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, which manages and has ownership interests in 23 resorts and hotels, has implemented Trust International's Voyager CRS distribution technology, which connects the properties to all four GDSs and numerous web sites in real time. Call center services are also provided. The hotel group's GDS code is "BY."
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BCD Stays With Pegasus For Hotel Commission Processing
BCD Travel has renewed its contract with Pegasus Solutions for hotel commission processing in the US, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Pegasus says its commission-processing tool streamlines commission payment and collection for travel agents and suppliers, processing more than $500 million in hotel commissions each year. Pegasus offers agents regularly scheduled, consolidated payments and reports, and also allows agents to select a preferred currency for payments.
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Benchmark To Manage Panama Hotel, Its First In Central America
Benchmark Hospitality International will operate The Orchid, a luxury hotel under construction in the heart of Panama City. It is Benchmark Hospitality’s first project in Central America. The 170-suite hotel will have a tapas-style restaurant and a business complex with meeting rooms, boardrooms and conference concierge services.
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Benchmark To Operate Lockheed Martin Center
Benchmark Hospitality International has been selected to manage the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence, which is under construction in Bethesda, MD, adjacent to the company's corporate headquarters. The center, expected to open in February 2009, will be a private facility providing a venue for Lockheed Martin meetings, conferences and other events. When complete, the Center will include 101,000 square feet of meeting and event space with a 250-seat amphitheater, eight large training rooms and 18 conference rooms. The new facility will also offer lodging facilities, a full-service restaurant and a fitness center for employees.
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Best Western Sets Out On Major Expansion In Japan
The Best Western Shinjuku Astina, Tokyo, a 214-room hotel, opens this month, as will three other hotels throughout the country. The chain, which has set a goal of becoming one of the largest in Japan, plans to have 30 hotels open in the country by 2010. Ten properties that will open in 2009 and 2010 are in various stages of rebranding, refurbishment and construction.
Best Western currently operates five hotels in Japan.
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Blackstone Hotel, A Chicago Landmark, Reopens Under Renaissance Flag
The renovation of a Chicago landmark hotel, the Blackstone, has been completed. Owner Sage Hospitality has opened the property under Marriott's Renaissance brand after a $128 million renovation. The Blackstone, a Beaux-Arts building that has been vacant since 1999, is called Chicago's "Hotel of Presidents" because a dozen US presidents have stayed there, including Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy.
Sage Hospitality says it preserved the "classic elegance" of the hotel while modernizing it. The Blackstone features 332 guest rooms and suites, renovated meeting space and boardrooms, and Hubbard Place - a hotel-within-a-hotel concept featuring perks such as butler service and private car service. The Sage Restaurant Group operates Mercat a la Planxa, a Spanish tapas-style restaurant.
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Candlewood Suites Opens In Fort Myers
The Candlewood Suites Fort Myers I-75 has opened for business in Fort Myers, FL. The 80-suite property is five miles from the Southwest Florida International Airport. Nearby businesses include corporate offices for GE and Lynx/PPG and world headquarters for Chico's. The hotel is 13 miles from Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach.
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Carlson Wagonlit Names New Partner In Nigeria
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has a new partner in Nigeria: Jubilee Travels Ltd. While remaining independently owned and operated, Jubilee is now operating as Carlson Wagonlit Travel Nigeria and is present in four locations in the country: Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Ibadan.
According to its 2006 Country Profile, which was completed around June '07, Jubilee's business mix is 78 percent business; 13 percent leisure; and 9 percent meeting.
Jubilee Prior to obtaining the license to distribute CWT products and services in Nigeria, Jubilee purchased Transcap Travel Bureaux.
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Certain Software, Amlink To Merge Meetings Technology Businesses
Certain Software and Amlink Technologies, both vendors of meetings-management technology, have agreed to merge. The deal is expected to be completed by April 1. Certain Software, based in San Francisco, offers a meetings-registration tool as its flagship product. Amlink, based in Australia, specializes in software for large events and conferences.
According to Certain Software, the companies share a similar customer base of Fortune 1000 corporations, meeting-management companies, conference organizers, associations, universities and government agencies. Certain's chairman and founder, Douglas Goldman, will continue as chairman for the combined company. The company will be led by Certain's president and CEO, James Pappas. Trevor Gardiner, CEO of Amlink Technologies, will become Certain's chief operating officer, responsible for Amlink's events products and current Amlink business units.
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Choice Opens 44 Hotels In February
Choice Hotels International, opened 44 franchised properties during the month of February. The openings include hotels in 26 states and territories and four countries, adding more than 3,400 rooms to the company's portfolio. Hotels include the Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Rodeway Inn, Clarion, Quality, EconoLodge, MainStay Suites and Suburban Extended Stay brands.
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Clear Offers Free Membership For A Year To Marriott's Best Customers
Clear, a registered traveler vendor that operates fast security lanes at airports, is giving Marriott Rewards Platinum Elite members a Clear card complimentary for a year. To participate in this offer, Elite members must complete online enrollment at flyclear.com/marriottplatinum before Sept. 17.
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Clear Opens Fast Lanes At Washington Airports
Clear, a registered traveler program offered by Verified Identity Pass, has opened expedited security lanes at Washington Reagan National and Washington Dulles airports. Clear members are pre-screened by the Transportation Security Administration and are provided with a card that allows exclusive access to Clear's security lanes nationwide. The Clear card verifies a fingerprint or iris image. Clear cards are now accepted at 16 US airports, including Denver, New York LaGuardia, New York JFK, Newark and San Francisco.
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Concur Deepens Focus On EU, Bringing Office Count To Five
Concur Technologies has announced the availability of its next-generation travel and expense management service in the EMEA. Concur Travel & Expense combines travel booking and expense reporting into one seamless, automated on-demand service: the click that books the trip also creates the expense claim.
The company also announced that it is opening offices in Frankfurt, Paris and Brussels to reach markets across Western and Central Europe, including Austria, Benelux, France, Germany and Switzerland. All three offices will focus on delivering products and services that are tailored to Concur’s partners and customers; a number of its clients already operate in these regions, including Advanced Medical Optics, Gilead Sciences, Agilent Technologies and IMS Health Inc. The company had earlier established offices in the UK and the Czech Republic.
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Construction Begins On First Upper-midscale Best Western
San Antonio developer and hotel owner Ajay Patel has broken ground on the first-ever Best Western Atria prototype, an upper-midscale concept. The 100-room property is being built in southwest San Antonio's Westside Peak development and is expected to be completed in the fall.
Best Western, which unveiled the Atria prototype in October, has 11 Atria hotels in its pipeline, in addition to Patel's. Other markets committed to Atria include Houston; Denver; Dallas; Louisville, KY; and Charlotte, NC. Atria guest rooms are designed around a loft concept. A frosted-glass half-wall separates sleeping areas from living areas. Best Western calls the Atria lobby a community space where guests can watch TV, enjoy a drink or light meal, or hold a business meeting.
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Continental Installs Self-Service Machines Throughout Latin America
Continental has installed self-service check-in kiosks from NCR Corp. at 13 airports throughout Latin America. The locations include airports in Acapulco, Mexico; Bogotá, Colombia; Cali, Columbia; Mexico City; Guadalajara, Mexico; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Monterrey, Mexico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Belize City; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Panama City; and Managua, Nicaragua.
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Croatia, US Reach Open-Skies Agreement
The US and Croatia have signed an open-skies deal, under which airlines from both countries will be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand, without limitations on the number carriers or the number of flights. The agreement also contains no restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provides for code-sharing opportunities between US and Croatian carriers.
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Crowne Plaza Opens Conference Center In Milwaukee
Crowne Plaza Milwaukee-Wauwatosa opens its doors on March 17 in the Milwaukee County Research Park. The new 198-room prototype hotel's full-service conference center includes seven meeting rooms, all equipped with T-1 high speed Internet access. Among the center's many features are natural light in rooms; movable partitions to create a variety of space; multi-zone, controllable lighting; ergonomic chairs; and Wi-Fi throughout the public space and guest rooms.
There is also a 24-hour business center; upscale dining restaurant & lounge; indoor swimming pool and whirlpool; fitness center; gift shop; valet and laundry service; ATM, and complimentary shuttle service within a 5-mile radius.
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CWT Acquires Travel Management Firm In Nashville
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has acquired Traveltime Services, a privately-held travel management company based in Nashville. Traveltime handles business totaling $20 million in annual air volume. Operations include the Nashville headquarters and corporate on-sites.
While CWT already has an office in the area, says Jack O'Neil, its president for North America, "the two locations will join operations to more efficiently serve our newly combined client base." Tamara Laurinas, president of Traveltime, and owners Jack Shaw and Jim King will take on roles within CWT.
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Delta AirElite Augments Southwestern Fleet
Delta AirElite has added a Beechcraft Premier I light jet its growing nationwide fleet of modern business jets. The late-model jet will be based in the San Francisco Bay area and will serve AirElite's growing southwest customer base.
The Premier I offers the largest cabin in its class with spacious seating for up to six passengers. With speeds up to 520 mph at 41,000 feet, the aircraft is one of the fastest and efficient light jets available. The Premier I features an oversized baggage compartment designed to transport skis, golf clubs and a variety of passenger baggage.
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Delta And American Cancel Flights To Inspect Wiring
Delta and American airlines re-inspected MD-80 aircraft on Wednesday, resulting in the cancellation of flights. The airlines were checking if wires were installed in compliance with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness directive. American canceled about 300 flights; Delta did not say how many flights it canceled.
The FAA last week announced it was auditing all airlines' maintenance records in the wake of Southwest's missed safety checks. An audit at American "raised questions regarding an already accomplished directive concerning how a certain bundle of wires is secured to the MD-80 aircraft," says the airline.
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Delta Guarantees Its Web Site Will Offer Its Lowest Fares
Delta Air Lines has unveiled its "best fare guarantee," assuring customers that they will always find the carrier's lowest available fares on its web site. The guarantee provides customers with two choices if they discover the same Delta itinerary for a lower fare on a web site other than delta.com:
a) Refund the ticket cost, no questions asked when they cancel their itinerary within 24 hours of purchase directly at delta.com.
b) Provide the fare difference and a $100 voucher for future Delta travel. The lower fare must be for the exact same Delta flight, date, cabin, booking class and flight time as the original itinerary purchased at delta.com, and the difference in total fares must be equal to or greater than $10. If that is the case, customers can submit a claim by midnight the same day the ticket was purchased at delta.com. Once Delta validates the lower fare, customers will receive an e-mail confirmation of the refund amount and a $100 electronic travel voucher.
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Delta Plans To Cut 2,000 Jobs, Reduce Domestic Capacity By 5%
According to a letter sent to employees that was filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Delta will offer voluntary severance packages to roughly 30,000 workers. Delta says its goal is to eliminate at least 2,000 frontline, administrative and management jobs through the voluntary program. Pilots won't be included in the severance program. The airline's total workforce in 55,000.
The airline also will reduce domestic capacity by an additional 5 percent by August. The reductions will be made through a combination of decreased utilization and the parking of 15 to 20 mainline aircraft and 20 to 25 regional jets. Delta says it primarily will thin frequencies and reduce point-to-point routes. As with past schedule reductions, changes will also be focused at off-peak times or in markets where regional jets are not profitable at current fuel prices.
Delta blames high fuel prices and a weakening US economy for putting "significant pressure on the profitability of our US network." In its message to employees, the airline says "With fuel expected to remain at approximately $100 per barrel for the foreseeable future, we must take action to keep Delta strong."
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Dnata Introduces Luxury Jet Charter Service In Middle East
Dnata, which handles passenger, cargo, ramp and technical services for airlines at Dubai International Airport, has launched Luxury Air Travel by Dnata. The division will represent private jet charter operators and offer customized services to meet the demand for luxury air travel in the Middle East.
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Dolce Basking Ridge Undertakes $8 Million Renovation
The Dolce Basking Ridge in Basking Ridge, NJ, has begun the first phase of an $8 million dollar redesign. As part of the first phase, the hotel will completely update all 171 guest rooms with new furniture, luxury bedding and soft goods, including Sealy pillowtop mattresses and 32-inch, flat-screen televisions.
Phases two and three will include improvements to public areas, meeting space, food and beverage outlets, the fitness center and courtyard. Plans are under way to create a contemporary open-air lobby with seating areas and a new coffee and wine bar. In the meeting space, improvements will include new lighting and cosmetic enhancements. The hotel's restaurant and lounge are being renamed and will feature newly designed open-air entrances and cooking areas. The courtyard will have new landscaping, added water features, areas for gatherings and ceremonies and an open fire pit.
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Dollar's Revamped Site Allows Tailored Corporate Landing Pages
Dollar Rent A Car has redesigned its web site so that, at one glance, customers are able to see all of the cars and associated rates at a given location on the specified pick-up date. Specials are easier to find, says Dollar: predictive search capabilities allow users to enter only the first three letters of their desired location to get search results. Dollar Express enrollment is simplified and corporate "landing" pages can be tailored to specific companies that have established a corporate account with Dollar. These landing pages have a booking engine with the company's negotiated corporate rates.
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DOT Awards Colombia Routes To Delta, JetBlue, Spirit, Continental
The Department of Transportation has tentatively granted four US airlines the right to operate one new daily flight each between the US and Bogota, Colombia. The DOT selected Delta for service from New York, JetBlue from Orlando, Spirit from Fort Lauderdale and Continental from Houston. Three of the new daily flights were made available by a September 2007 US-Colombia aviation agreement which increased, from 70 to 91, the total number of weekly flights that US carriers may operate between the two countries. The fourth flight under the DOT proposal would be a reallocation of one daily US-Colombia flight currently held by American Airlines.
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DOT Implements Flight Caps And Slot Auctioning At Newark
Airlines serving Newark Airport have agreed to temporarily cap the number of flights at 83 per hour during peak periods, according to the Department of Transportation. The cap goes into effect in early May. Airlines can avoid service cuts by shifting flights to times of the day when the airport has unused capacity, says DOT Secretary Mary Peters.
In the future, the DOT will auction slots at Newark as capacity at the airport grows. Peters says auctioning slots encourages competition and allows new entrants.
The flight cap at Newark follows a limitation on hourly flights at New York's JFK Airport that will go into effect later this month.
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DOT To Study Effect Of Air Alliances On Competition
The US Department of Transportation and the European Commission will jointly research how airline alliances have affected competition in transatlantic markets, with the US-European Union open skies agreement set to begin this month. The open skies deal, which will for the first time allow EU and US airlines to serve any route between Europe and the US, "calls for developing a common understanding of trends in the airline industry in order to promote compatible approaches on competition issues," says the DOT. The European Commission and the DOT will interview airlines, travel agents, industry analysts and consumer groups as well as perform quantitative analysis on air traffic data. A final report summarizing the main findings of the research will be published in mid-2009, says the DOT.
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Emirates Claims First In Race To Allow In-flight Calls
The first authorized mobile phone call made from a commercial flight was made on March 20 at 30,000 feet en route to Casablanca, onboard an Emirates Airbus A340-300 aircraft - the first in the airline's fleet to be equipped with the AeroMobile system.
The airline plans to invest some US$27 million to fit its fleet with the AeroMobile system which ensures that passenger mobile phones operate at their absolute minimum power, thereby allowing safe use on the aircraft. A second Emirates aircraft, a Boeing 777-300, has already been installed with the AeroMobile system and will be in operation very shortly.
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Emirates Sets Rollout For A380 Service; NYC Is First
Emirates says it will begin Dubai-New York service using the A380 superjumbo jet on October 1. The airline will launch London Heathrow A380 service on December 1; and Sydney and New Zealand service on February 1, 2009. Emirates' A380 for the routes will be configured for 489 seats: 14 in first class, 76 in business class and 399 in economy.
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Emirates To Fly To L.A.
Emirates will start daily service from Dubai to the US West Coast on September 1, when Los Angeles becomes the airline's third US gateway with non-stop flights to Dubai. Emirates will fly its Boeing 777-200LR on the route, offering 266 seats in a three-class configuration. Emirates also flies to New York and Houston.
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Enterprise Launches Car-sharing Plan For St. Louis Commuters
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is linking its WeCar membership-based car sharing plan to the St. Louis Car Sharing Cooperative to offer hourly rental of hybrid cars to people who live and work in the downtown St. Louis area. The cooperative is led by Citizens for Modern Transit.
The WeCar vehicles will be parked in designated spots near some of the city’s largest employers, close to busy residential areas, and near public transportation and high-traffic areas. The plan was spurred by the recent closure of Highway 40, which left many commuters in need of cars in the downtown area for their workday errands.
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Enterprise Location In SD To Offer E85 Fuel
Enterprise Rent-A-Car and VeraSun Energy Corp, an ethanol producer, have jointly announced that a rental branch location in Sioux Falls, SD, will fuel 30 percent of its cars with E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
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Ernst & Young: Weak Dollar Will Help US Hotels
The US hospitality sector will continue to post strong results in 2008 because a weak dollar makes the US an attractive destination for international travelers, according to a report released this week by Ernst & Young's Global Real Estate Center. Ernst & Young says international travelers are upgrading to higher-end accommodations because their local currency now buys, in some cases, more than twice what it did just a few years ago.
Foreign business travelers can leverage the strength of their home currencies to take longer stays in US hotels, says Michael Fishbin, Ernst & Young's US director of its Hospitality & Leisure practice.
Another factor helping hotels: the pipeline of new construction hit its peak in the fourth quarter of 2007, says Ernst & Young, and with the economic slowdown and far tighter credit, some hotel construction projects have slowed while others have been shelved. A supply-demand imbalance will likely benefit existing hotels and could result in higher room rates in cities such as New York, Miami, and San Francisco, says Ernst & Young.
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Expedia Acquires CarRentals.com
Expedia Inc. has acquired CarRentals.com, an online car rental marketing and retail company based in New Jersey. Financial terms were not disclosed. CarRentals.com will continue to operate in its current form and will be a unit of Hotwire, a discount travel seller owned by Expedia. CarRentals.com's senior leadership team will remain intact, and Expedia says it will make no material changes to CarRentals.com's operations, employee base or brand name. The senior leadership team will remain intact.
Car rental companies that do business with Hotwire and CarRentals.com will continue under current working relationships with each brand, says Expedia.
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Expedia Makes WestJet Flights Available To US Customers
Expedia has expanded its partnership with WestJet to make the Canadian low-fare carrier's published fares and schedules available to US travelers. WestJet had already been available to Canadians on Expedia.ca. WestJet flies to Phoenix; Las Vegas; Los Angeles and Palm Springs, CA; and four Florida cities - Orlando, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale.
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FAA To Audit Airline Maintenance Reports
In the wake of Southwest Airlines flying planes that had missed safety checks, acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert Sturgell this week directed inspectors to reconfirm that commercial carriers operating within the US have complied with all airworthiness directives. Inspectors will audit a sample of airworthiness directives that applies to a carrier's fleet.
By March 28, the FAA says, it will have completed review of 10 airworthiness directives per fleet. By no later than June 30, it will have completed a review of 10 percent of the airworthiness directives applicable to a fleet. An airworthiness directive is a legally enforceable rule issued by the FAA to correct an unsafe condition in an airplane. Carriers are responsible for complying with all such directives.
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Fairmont Unveils Online Music Store For Hotel Guests
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, in partnership with EMI Music, has launched the Fairmont Music Store, an online retail initiative that will provide guests access to digital music from EMI's catalog. Located at FairmontMusicStore.com, the online store will be officially launched at a special event at New York's Plaza Hotel in the spring.
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FCm Adds Partner In Peru
FCm Travel Solutions' growing network in Latin America has been extended to Peru. The Australia-based travel management company has formed a partnership with Corporate Travel S.A.C., which FCm claims is the only travel company in Peru that is 100 percent dedicated to the corporate market.
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FCm Finds Partner In Afghanistan
FCm Travel Solutions has strengthened its presence in the Middle East by partnering with Anaar Travels. The company, a part of Afghanistan's Anaar Group, was established in 2004 and currently employs 20+ people to provide one-stop procurement, transport and logistics services, as well as specialist services in event management.
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Fox Rent A Car Expands
Fox Rent A Car plans to open a corporate airport location in Salt Lake City on April 1, after opening a corporate location at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last August. Los Angeles-based Fox also has corporate locations in Phoenix and at six California airports: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County (John Wayne Airport), San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.
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Garber Certified As Women's Business Enterprise
Boston-based travel agency Garber | FCm Travel Solutions has been nationally certified as a women's business enterprise by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. WBENC certification is accepted by thousands of US corporations and a number of federal and government agencies seeking to foster diversity in their business relationships. Certification benefits include listing in WBENCLink (an Internet database of certified women's business enterprises) and use of the WBENC member seal on marketing materials.
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Gaylord Expands Wi-Fi Service At Convention Hotels
Gaylord Hotels now offers wireless Internet connectivity resort-wide at each of its four expansive properties: the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Gaylord Texan near Dallas, Gaylord Palms near Orlando and Gaylord National near Washington, DC (opening April 2008). The upgrade gives guests high-speed Internet connections via a Wi-Fi network throughout all public areas of the hotels - including hotel lobbies, atria, restaurants, lounges, bars and pool areas - as part of the daily $15 resort fee.
Wireless access in the convention center and meeting rooms requires additional firewall and security levels, therefore it is contracted separately by each group's meeting planner, who then controls the codes that provide meeting attendees access to the service.
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GetThere Adds Worktopia Booking For Small Meetings
GetThere has agreed to offer the Worktopia online shopping solution to business travelers so that they can search, compare and book meeting space, audio visual equipment and catering for simple meetings of up to 100 participants. Worktopia offers online small meeting procurement solutions in hotels, conference centers, business centers and airport lounges throughout North America.
Worktopia provides live, comparable quotes based on specific meeting requirements, allowing planners to book space in venues in more than 150 US cities without having to wait for e-mailed RFP responses. Users can shop and book space in as little as three minutes, making the solution ideal for both long-range and last-minute bookings.
As part of this new capability, participants can also elect to source group room-nights for meeting participants through HelmsBriscoe, which established its successful relationship with GetThere in 2006. HelmsBriscoe offers special rates, promotions, concessions and availability with virtually every major hotel chain and most independent properties.
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Green Skies: Airlines Should Recycle 25% Of In-flight Trash
US passenger airlines and the airports they serve should adopt the goal of recycling 200 million cans and plastic bottles from in-flight trash, or 25 percent of the total, within five years, says Green Skies, an Orlando-based aviation consulting firm. Green Skies is advocating a 50 percent goal by 2015 and a 100 percent goal by 2018.
An analysis by the company shows that in 2008, there will be more than 7,000 tons of onboard aluminum and plastic used in flight for passenger service that can be recycled. "Throughout North America, there is a need to embrace environmental responsibility more urgently than is being done today. The recycling of drink containers and bottles served to passengers in the air is a no-brainer," says Green Skies CEO Michael Miller. "But the airlines can't begin this until all of their airport partners have put recycling processes in place themselves. While many airports have in-terminal recycling, many do not."
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Harrah's Opens Renovated Tower In Atlantic City
Harrah's Resort Atlantic City has unveiled the final phase and centerpiece of the property's $550 million renovation and expansion project: the 960-room, 44-story Waterfront Tower. The tower increases Harrah's hotel capacity by nearly 60 percent; the property now has a total of 2,590 guest rooms and suites. According to Harrah's, the tower is the tallest building in the city and the second-tallest in New Jersey.
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Harrah's Pulls Out Of Bahamas Mega-resort Project
Harrah's Entertainment has walked away from the $2 billion Baha Mar development on Nassau's Cable Beach in the Bahamas, saying that the decision was made because its partner, Baha Mar Development Co., took longer to organize the project than anticipated.
The joint venture was formed last year: Harrah's owned 43 percent; Baha Mar, 57 percent. The plan was to construct a Caesars resort casino and four Starwood-branded hotels (W, Westin, Sheraton and St. Regis), to go along with a Wyndham resort already open. Baha Mar says it is forging ahead with the project without Harrah's.
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Hawaiian Airlines Partners With Delta Loyalty Program
Hawaiian Airlines and Delta are giving their respective frequent-flyer program members more mileage-earning and award travel opportunities. The new agreement enables members of HawaiianMiles to earn and redeem miles on all Delta flights system-wide. Delta SkyMiles members may now earn and redeem miles for travel on all inter-island flights operated by Hawaiian within the state of Hawaii. Hawaiian provides approximately 100 flights daily connecting Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, and Hilo and Kona on the Big Island. Additionally, SkyMiles members can earn and redeem miles on Hawaiian's nonstop Honolulu-Sydney service as well as its nonstop service between Honolulu and Manila, Philippines.
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Hertz Simplifies Online Planning Of Trips Via NeverLost System
After completing a trial period, Online Trip Planning is now available in the Hertz NeverLost in-car navigation system. The service allows Hertz customers to plan their trips entirely online from the convenience of their home or office. They go to Neverlost.com, enter their trip information, save it to a personal USB storage device and insert it into the Hertz NeverLost system.
In the past, users entered information for each destination into the Hertz NeverLost system one destination at a time. With Online Trip Planning, entire trips can be planned in advance, Hertz says. Online Trip Planning is complimentary to Hertz NeverLost customers at most major airport locations, exclusively in full-size cars and above. The system costs $10.95 per day.
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Hilton Offers Free Web Pages For Small Meetings & Sports Trips
Meeting planners who are organizing small events at a Hilton-branded hotel can now create their own web pages for business groups, special events and sports trips at 2,400 hotels in North America. The service is free for events that include the purchase of guest rooms. The tool is available for small meetings at Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites and Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotels in North America.
After planners use the booking method of their choice to secure an event with up to 25 guest rooms, they can set up their own web pages or they can provide their hotel representative with the information they would like to include in the pages, which will then be created for them.
The event pages enable planners to promote their events and display event details for attendees; select their own color scheme, two photos and items such as maps and schedules; and set up a booking mechanism that directly links to the group hotel block, providing easier and more accurate hotel and rate information for attendees, says Hilton.
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HRG Expands Into Tunisia
Corporate travel agency Hogg Robinson Group (HRG) has added Tunis-based Fides Voyages to its worldwide network as its dedicated partner in Tunisia. Fides Voyages, which will trade as HRG Tunisia, focuses exclusively on corporate travel and events/meetings management. The company serves over 125 clients.
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JetBlue Adds Refundable Fares, New Destinations To Inventory
JetBlue Airways, its stock sale to Lufthansa complete, has taken on another international partner, announced major expansions of service on both coasts and begun offering refundable fares. Lufthansa now holds a 19 percent stake in the low-cost carrier. At the conclusion of that deal on January 22, the two airlines said they were ready to begin “exploring innovative commercial arrangements designed to benefit both airlines and their customers.” Without making specific reference to that statement, the LCC’s press room has been busy with fresh announcements ever since the estimated $300 million deal was consummated.
Beginning on April 3, a new partnership with Aer Lingus will allow travelers booking through either airline to have access to the other’s web site. Those booking a reservation in Ireland will have access to continental US destinations, connecting through JetBlue’s home base at JFK International Airport. Those traveling from the US to Ireland will be transferred with one click from the JetBlue site to Aer Lingus’ site to complete their booking.
At JFK, and after customs clearance, Aer Lingus customers will first clear customs, then check in for their domestic JetBlue flight and drop their bags at Aer Lingus’ transfer desk in the Terminal 4, then travel via the AirTrain to JetBlue’s Terminal 6 to make their connection. Customers traveling from the US to Ireland will be able to check their bags at their JetBlue origination point and pick them up again in Dublin or Shannon. Earliest available reservations are for the end of April.
Shortly after that, JetBlue will begin launching a series of new routes. On May 1, the airline will inaugurate nonstop service from Boston to Chicago and New Orleans, bringing its total of destinations from O’Hare to 30. That same month, service will be added to several new destinations up and down the West Coast:
• May 1, service between Long Beach (CA) Airport and Austin;
• May 21, service from LAX to JFK and Boston, and back, from Long Beach to San Jose and Seattle; between Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA, to Washington DC, and Las Vegas; San Diego to Seattle.
JetBlue’s new fully refundable fares are available direct from the airline or through the GDS and other third-party channels. Customers who buy refundable fares will be able to make unlimited reservation changes, including name changes, or opt for a full refund any time prior to the flight’s departure.
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US Airlines Join Race To Build Fleets Of Plugged-in Planes
In-flight connectivity may be replacing lie-flat beds as the new earmark of a fashion-forward airline. Each carrier in the recent spate of announcements has chosen a different partner. So far, pretty much all of them are in testing phases.
So far there’s been little public discussion of any charges that will be associated with the new services, but Continental Airlines has already indicated that its Wi-Fi connectivity will be complimentary. It will be available for enabled phones, Blackberrys and laptops through an agreement with LiveTV. The package also includes 36 channels of in-flight, satellite-based programming provided by DIRECTV. The service is expected to be available to customers on flights operating within the continental US, beginning in January 2009.
Southwest Airlines says it will begin testing Internet capabilities on four of its aircraft this summer in a partnership agreement with Row 44, a southern California specialist in in-flight broadband services. Southwest says this will make it “the first US carrier to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access on multiple aircraft.” The Row 44 service will give travelers with Wi-Fi enabled devices full access to Internet e-mail, music, shopping, and virtual private networks (VPN) — via a high-speed connection.
American Airlines is testing AirCell’s Internet broadband connectivity. The first aircraft installation has been completed and the airline says it expects to equip all 15 of its Boeing 767-200s this year. The planes are used primarily on transcontinental routes.
Virgin America is working with the Revision3 Internet TV network to bring original, cutting-edge web-based television programming to its passengers. Programming is scheduled to launch this month (March) on flights to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, San Diego and Seattle.
Programs will be targeted to the on-demand generation with titles like Diggnation, Tekzilla, The Totally Rad Show, Web Drifter, XLR8R TV and The Digg Reel. The shows are “flight-sized,” says Jim Louderback, Revision3 CEO, and will last “anywhere from three to forty five minutes.”
Acceptance of the new in-flight amenity remains to be seen. In a survey conducted in January by Orbitz for Business, 57 percent of business travelers opposed cell phone usage in-flight, mainly because it could increase noise - and their own stress levels. When asked if they would take less convenient or more costly flights in order to get Wi-Fi service, only 8 percent said yes. Fifty-six percent said it was not a necessity; 36 percent said they would try to get a flight with Wi-Fi available but wouldn’t be bothered if it weren’t.
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i:FAO's Cytric Now Able To Book Hotels Via Range Of Providers
i:FAO, developer of the Cytric booking tool for corporations in Europe, has introduced its Cube Channel technology for hotel bookings. This technology, which has been available since 2005 for air, enables companies to combine and individually utilize a range of hotel providers (reservation systems, travel agents, hotel programs, hotel operators), according to need.
The different channels can be intelligently prioritized with settings specified down to country level. With this, says i:FAO, corporations have the option of specifying preferred hotel providers country by country. Travelers need not know which hotel provider is the preferred choice, as Cytric sorts the hotel options according to travel policy.
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Iberia Increases Frequency To Boston & Washington
Spanish carrier Iberia Airlines in mid-June will begin operating daily flights between Madrid and Boston and five weekly flights between Madrid and Washington Dulles. Currently, Iberia operates three flights per week between each of the cities.
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IHG Opens 20th Hotel in Saudi Arabia
InterContinental Hotels Group has opened the InterContinental Al Khobar, the group's 20th property in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The 120-room hotel is near Al Khobar's business and commercial center.
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IHG To Open Fourth Resort Property In Venezuela
IHG has announced plans to open a new InterContinental Hotels & Resorts property in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Slated for opening by the end of 2008, InterContinental Maracaibo will join the Crowne Plaza Maruma Maracaibo Casino & Convention Center as the second IHG brand in the city. It will also become the fourth InterContinental Hotels & Resorts property in Venezuela.
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InterContinental San Francisco Opens
The InterContinental San Francisco, located in the city's South of Market Area (SOMA), has opened. The 550-room hotel is at the corner of Howard and Fifth streets, adjacent to the Moscone West Convention Center and steps away from Union Square. The hotel, which offers 43,000 square feet of meeting and function space on three floors, is the first of three InterContinental hotels scheduled to open in the Western US this year. The InterContinental Clement Monterey in Monterey Bay, CA, will open in May; the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa will open in Scottsdale, AZ, in the fall.
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Interstate Forges Platform To Enter India's Hospitality Market
Interstate Hotels & Resorts has formed a 50-50 joint venture with JHM Hotels to operate and selectively invest in hotels in India. The New Delhi-based joint venture, named JHM Interstate Hotels India, will serve as Interstate's platform for all hospitality-related activities in India, primarily focused on securing management agreements on existing and to-be-built hotels.
In addition to the management platform, both Interstate and JHM have committed to invest $12.5 million in Duet India Hotels Limited, a U.K.-based, real estate investment fund dedicated solely to the investment of hotels in India. The fund has committed to providing JHM Interstate the first opportunity to manage the hotels in which it invests. The joint venture also has established a strategic relationship with a subsidiary of JNB Hotels and Resorts Private Limited, a California REIT with a strong development pipeline in India.
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Jet Airways To Begin Flying To San Francisco
Indian carrier Jet Airways will commence daily service from San Francisco to Shanghai and Mumbai on May 5. With the launch, Jet Airways becomes the first Indian airline to fly from San Francisco to Mumbai and the second to fly nonstop from San Francisco to Shanghai. The flight from San Francisco will be the airline's fourth daily North American departure to India, following launches of service from New York JFK, Newark and Toronto within the past year.
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Jetairfly Launches Belgium-Orlando Service
Jetairfly, a low-cost Belgian carrier, will start seasonal service between Orlando Sanford and Brussels on June 22, the first-ever scheduled service between Orlando Sanford and Belgium. Service will operate weekly on Sundays through November 2, using a 262-seat Boeing 767 configured with 63 premium-class and 199 economy seats.
Jetairfly is owned by German travel company TUI. Thomsonfly, also owned by TUI, has operated charters from the UK to Orlando Sanford for several years.
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JetBlue Adds Points-purchase Option To Loyalty Program
JetBlue Airways Corporation has launched the Buy TrueBlue Points service for members of its TrueBlue customer loyalty program. The service allows members to buy points or give points to other members via a rewards management portal operated by Points International Ltd.
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JetBlue Makes Orlando A Focus City
JetBlue has designated Orlando a key city in its route network, and that focus means a bigger terminal facility at Orlando International Airport; the development of a JetBlue Crew Lodge; and the establishment of a local crew base for JetBlue's pilots and flight attendants. JetBlue has entered into an agreement with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) to lease the long-term use of up to 10 gates in Orlando International Airport's Airside 1. The terminal move will provide expanded facilities for the airline as well as customs and immigrations capabilities to process JetBlue's growing roster of international flights. Currently, JetBlue's domestic flights operate from six gates in Airside 2 while international flights operate from nearby Airside 4.
JetBlue on June 1 will establish a local crew base for its pilots and flight attendants at Orlando. Crew members based in Orlando will begin and end their scheduled flying at the airport. Other JetBlue crew bases include Boston, Fort Lauderdale, New York JFK, and Long Beach, CA. In addition to its flight crew base, JetBlue will continue to offer training for the airline's pilots, flight attendants, technical operations professionals and airport crew members at its Orlando Support Center, which has been in operation since 2005 on a campus near Orlando International.
Also, JetBlue will begin construction in September on a 292-suite JetBlue Crew Lodge, which will be used to accommodate the airline's crew members who are in the Orlando area conducting training and other related airline business. The lodge, which will be situated on 4.5 acres of a total 6.5 acres leased from GOAA, will be managed by InterContinental Hotels Group. Outdoor amenities will include a pool, sports court, fitness center, outdoor cooking facilities, study rooms and meeting rooms.
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JetBlue To Offer More Legroom For A $10-$20 Fee
JetBlue will reconfigure Airbus A320 aircraft to offer seats with more legroom. The new product, Even More Legroom, will offer 38 inches of pitch in the second to fifth rows plus emergency exit rows 10 and 11. Other JetBlue A320 seats will offer the standard 34-inch pitch. The airline will charge $10 each way for short-haul flights, $15 for medium-haul flights (such as New York to Florida) and $20 for long-haul flights (such as transcontinental routes).
Customers can purchase an Even More Legroom seat on all A320 jets, as well as the emergency exit row of the airline's Embraer E190 aircraft, for flights on or after April 1 when booking at JetBlue.com, via the airline's toll-free reservations number or via the Manage Your Flights link on the web site. Later this year, customers will also have the ability to purchase an Even More Legroom seat upon check-in online, at airport service counters and at airport kiosks.
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JPMorgan Attaches Special Services To T&E Cards For VIPs
JPMorgan has unveiled its new Corporate Platinum and Gold Card T&E cards, designed for corporations' top executives. The financial services firm is placing special emphasis on the cards' airport lounge and baggage delivery features but they also offer concierge services, travel accident and lost luggage insurance coverage, and emergency medical and dental coverage.
Access is provided to more than 500 VIP lounges in 275+ cities worldwide, regardless of whether or not the cardholder is traveling on the lounge's sponsoring airline. That's 50 percent more than the lounge locations offered by American Express Platinum Card, says JPMorgan's Rich Erario, emphasizing his company's determination to "go head-to-head with American Express." The lounge access program has been developed under an agreement with Priority Pass.
The VIP Luggage Delivery service - a new feature among corporate card programs - eliminates the wait for checked bags after landing. "You'd be surprised how many executives are still lugging their bags around," says Erario, who is JPMorgan's senior vice president for commercial card and electronic procurement, invoicing and payables.
Instead, JPMorgan VIP cardholders will be able to log onto the program's specified URL, file the pertinent information (flight number, ultimate destination, etc.) and then check their bags as usual at the airport. But at their destination airport, they can go immediately to their meeting appointments, knowing that their bags will be delivered to the specified location within four hours of landing. The service is available to Corporate Gold cardholders for $39.95 for two bags; each additional bag will cost $5. Corporate Platinum cardholders receive their first eight uses free each year; each of these deliveries can include up to eight bags. After that, they pay the same $39.95-per-two-bags fee.
The service is provided under an exclusive agreement with Priority Solutions International, which manages luggage delivery for six of the seven largest North American airline carriers.
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Kimpton To Open Eco-friendly Palomar Hotel In LA's Westwood Area
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants plans to open the Hotel Palomar Los Angeles this spring in the city's upscale Westwood neighborhood. The 268-room boutique hotel will incorporate 40 eco-friendly practices into its daily operations, says Kimpton. They include in-room recycling bins; energy-efficient lighting; water-efficient fixtures; toiletries made from natural ingredients by earth-friendly manufacturers; organic food and beverage options in its mini-bars; and a restaurant that follows the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch's sustainable seafood guidelines.
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Korean Air To Resume L.A.-Sao Paulo Service
Korean Air on June 2 will relaunch nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The carrier had eliminated the LA-Sao Paulo route in 2001, shortly after 9/11. Subject to government approval, Korean Air will operate thrice-weekly service using Boeing 777 aircraft.
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LaSalle Constructing Hotel Within Chicago Office Building
LaSalle Hotel Properties and Oxford OG Hospitality Chicago have formed a joint venture to acquire floors 2 through 13 and a portion of the first floor of the former IBM Building in Chicago. The joint venture (95 percent owned by LaSalle), which paid Prime Group Realty Trust $46 million for the space, will transform the vacant floors into a luxury hotel.
The upper floors, still owned by Prime, will remain as office space.
The as-yet-unnamed hotel, expected to open in 2010, will have exclusive elevators and a separate entrance on the ground floor. The hotel is expected to house up to 335 rooms, 17,000 square feet of meetings facilities, a restaurant, a lobby bar, a wine room, a fitness center, an indoor pool and a spa.
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Lufthansa Aims Capacity Hike At Four North American Cities
Lufthansa is expanding its seating capacity worldwide by 7.4 percent this summer, and that includes new daily service from Frankfurt to Seattle. Also, on May 12 Lufthansa will be flying Lufthansa Business Jet connections to Newark and Chicago from Düsseldorf with wide-body Airbus A340 jets. New nonstop flights out of Düsseldorf will also be available to Toronto.
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Lufthansa Readies Frankfurt Airport For A380
Lufthansa has inaugurated its new passenger handling area between concourses C and D in Terminals 1 and 2 at Frankfurt Airport. With two waiting levels and "generously proportioned" jet bridges, Lufthansa says the new pier will link the C and D concourses and ultimately fulfill all the requirements for the super jumbo Airbus A380. The new pier concept allows passengers to board from two levels.
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Lufthansa To Use Own Fleet For Private Jet Service
To accommodate a surge in demand for its Lufthansa Private Jet (LPJ) service, Lufthansa is developing its own private jet fleet. The airline says demand for the service, which launched in 2005, rose 26 percent in 2007 and during peak months exceeds capacity by 60 percent. The LPJ fleet will feature nine aircraft from Cessna and Bombardier with the first, a Cessna Citation CJ3, due for delivery this month and the entire fleet scheduled for delivery in the following months.
The cabin interior resembles the design, materials and color scheme of Lufthansa's first-class terminal in Frankfurt.
Customers can choose from more than 1,000 destinations in Europe and the Russian Federation.
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Luxury Collection Hotel To Be Built In UAE
Starwood Hotels & Resorts will manage a Luxury Collection hotel in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The property, due to open in 2011, will be located in the Saraya Islands, a mixed-use destination in the heart of Ras Al Khaimah between the Hajjar Mountains and the Arabian Gulf. The hotel's 300 guest rooms will include 40 suites. Amenities will include two specialty restaurants and 43,000 square feet of indoor meeting space.
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Luxury Lifestyle Hotels Adds Properties In The Americas
Luxury Lifestyle Hotels & Resorts, a collection of boutique hotels, has added its first hotels in the Western Hemisphere. The hotels include the Dylan Hotel in New York; Casa del Mar in Cabo, Mexico; Eurostars Blue Tulum in Tulum, Mexico; Recoleta in Buenos Aires; and the Lake Resort Le Sirenuse in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina (opening this summer).
Luxury Lifestyle has about 120 hotels in its collection. Until now, they were all in Europe. Luxury Lifestyle properties include the Pestana Palace in Lisbon, Belles Rives Hotel on the French Riviera, Gran Hotel la Florida in Barcelona, Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London, Gran Hotel Son Net in Mallorca and Grand Hotel Parker in Naples.
Luxury Lifestyle was founded in 2004 and is jointly owned by the Stein Group and Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts.
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Mandarin Oriental Eyes July Debut For Boston Hotel
The Mandarin Oriental, Boston will open in July and feature more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space that can accommodate up to 600 attendees. The 148-room hotel will be located in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood on Boylston Street, adjacent to the Prudential Center and the Hynes Convention Center.
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Marriott Chooses HP To Provide Teleconferencing Solution
Marriott International has contracted Hewlett-Packard to provide its Halo "telepresence" solutions for public use at select Marriott locations in major business centers around the world. The specific locations will be announced at a later date.
The technology enables virtual meeting participants see each other in life-sized images projected on high-resolution displays. HP says users can communicate with no perceived delays, regardless of how far apart they may be. Marriott says it expects the technology to open new lines of business for its hotels.
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Mexicana To Connect New York And Monterrey
Mexicana Airlines will introduce daily service between New York JFK and Monterrey, Mexico, on May 1. Mexicana says the new route is of particular importance to Monterrey residents, who will no longer have to fly to Mexico City to catch connecting flights to New York.
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MGM Grand At Foxwoods Begins Accepting Reservations
The 825-room MGM Grand at Foxwoods in southeastern Connecticut, slated to open in May, has begun taking reservations. The property will have a 4,000-seat MGM Grand Theater, a casino and casino lounge, a nightclub and 115,000 square feet of meeting space.
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Motel 6 Unveils New 'Unexpected Boutique-style' Prototype
Motel 6 has unveiled its first new prototype in 12 years, naming it the Phoenix design, for the mythical bird symbolizing rebirth. Early feedback from guests describe the new prototype as having a "modern, European, boutique-style flair that they find both unexpected and appealing," says Accor North America, parent company of Motel 6.
Designer Priestman Goode "optimized the use of space by combining multiple functions into a single piece of furniture to provide modern functionality," says Motel 6. For example, the entertainment unit that houses the TV conceals the door-less wardrobe behind it. The entertainment unit has a cubby for personal items and a multimedia panel enabling guests to plug in their MP3 players, CD players and laptops. The banquette seating area for two, a new feature for Motel 6, is situated in the corner of the room. The bathroom has double doors; a black, granite countertop with vessel sink; and a walk-in shower with a molded seat. Guest rooms also have ambient lighting, "wood-effect flooring" rather than carpeting and pedestal beds with a pillow-top mattress.
Construction of the first Phoenix prototype will begin in the second half of 2008 at a corporate-owned location, and be available to franchisees in the summer of 2009. Motel 6 says it plans to retrofit many corporate-owned properties with elements of the new prototype.
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Names In The News 3/13/08
American Express Business Travel has appointed Kaveh Atrak as vice president, general manager for Central Europe and Nordic regions. The appointment adds Central Europe to his areas of responsibility after the recent resignation of Marc Hildebrand.
Hilton Hotels has hired Steven Goldman as president of global development and real estate. Goldman is currently president and CEO of Sunstone Hotel Investors, a real estate investment trust that owns upscale hotels operated under various brands. Ian Carter, the current CEO of Hilton International, will assume the newly-created role of president of global operations. Mark Wang, the current head of Hilton Grand Vacations, Asia, has been promoted to president of Hilton Grand Vacations and will oversee all global timeshare operations. In addition to being chief information officer, Tim Harvey will now oversee shared-brand services.
Marriott International has named Adam Sherer vice president of Marriott ExecuStay, the company's temporary-housing brand. Sherer joined Marriott International in 1996. In his previous roles at Marriott, Sherer has led efforts in new product development, brand acquisitions, market conversions, operations, franchise services and the development of Marriott's temporary housing franchise program.
Travelport has appointed Jon Hall chief marketing officer. He joins Travelport from WPP, where he was a consultant director in London and New York, responsible for the overall strategy and development of the technology business globally.
Wyndham Worldwide has named Geoffrey Ballotti, former president of the North American division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, president and CEO of Group RCI, Wyndham's vacation exchange and rental business.
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Names In The News 3/20/08
Ambassadors has appointed Teresa Devereaux (formerly Teresa Christensen) director of global sales for its conference and incentive travel management division. She served most recently as global senior account director for Liquid Productions.
Benchmark Hospitality International has appointed Bree Benson director of conference services for Lansdowne Resort near Leesburg, VA. Benson was previously the director of convention services for the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, VA.
Boston Coach has announced that Mark Munoz, the company's chief operating officer, was elected to an at-large seat on the National Limousine Association board of directors for the 2008-2011 term.
Choice Hotels International has named Chris Malone chief marketing officer, with responsibility for the company's global consumer marketing, worldwide travel industry sales, e-commerce and reservations efforts. Malone most recently served as senior vice president of marketing for Aramark Corp.
Frontier Airlines has promoted assistant general counsel Matt Henry to vice president and general counsel; and vice president and CIO Gerry Coady to senior vice president and CIO. Henry's promotion is coincident with the immediate departure of David Sislowski, formerly senior vice president and general counsel. Sislowski's departure and both Henry's and Coady's promotions were effective March 7.
Global Aero Logistics, parent company of ATA Airlines, has announced that president and CEO Subodh Karnik has resigned. Chairman John Denison will serve as the company's president and CEO on an interim basis until a search is completed for a replacement. Karnik was appointed as Globe's president and CEO in January 2007, after serving as president and CEO at ATA. He joined ATA in June 2005 as chief commercial officer and subsequently became executive vice president and chief operating officer. Denison has served as chairman of Globe's board of directors since January 2006. He joined Global as co-chief restructuring officer in January 2005 and served as president and CEO of ATA from February 2005 until December 2006.
Kempinski Hotels has promoted Samar El Accra to director of global sales, focusing on Middle East sales opportunities. He will manage the company's new outbound sales office in the United Arab Emirates. El Accra was Kempinski's area director of sales for the Middle East for two years.
Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver, scheduled to open in January 2009, has named Jeff Froehlich director of sales and marketing. A native of Vancouver, Froehlich has worked for Sheraton and Westin, most recently as sales manager for the Westin Grand Vancouver.
Starwood has named Charlie Dang area managing director for northern China, a newly-created position. Dang will continue in his current role as general manager at the Westin Beijing, Financial Street, while overseeing and setting strategic direction for Starwood's hotels in northern China.
Tri-Pen Travel Master Technologies, a provider of travel management software, has promoted Joseph Monaghan to chief operating officer. He was senior vice president of global business development.
West Paces Hotel Group has named Roy Grimsland corporate director of sales, responsible for retail travel efforts within North America on behalf of the company's two brands: Capella and Solis. Most recently, Grimsland served as vice president of sales for Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a position he held for more than 10 years.
Wynn Resorts has announced that president Ronald Kramer has left his position to become CEO of engineering company Griffon Corp. No replacement was named. Kramer has served as a Griffon board member since 1993.
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Names In The News 3/27/08
Benchmark Hospitality International has promoted Greg Parsons to vice president and general manager at Eaglewood Resort & Spa, located near Chicago. He was managing director.
Choice Hotels International has named Stephen Joyce president and chief operating officer, effective May 1. Under a management succession plan just outlined by the company, he will also succeed Chuck Ledsinger as CEO in October. Ledsinger, who has been Choice's CEO for the past 10 years, will remain with the company as vice chairman. Joyce, a 25-year veteran of Marriott International, is currently Marriott's executive vice president of global development and owner/franchise services. Also, Bruce Haase has been promoted to executive vice president for global brand operations, effective immediately. He had been senior vice president of brand operations and international.
InterContinental Hotels Groups has named Raymond Vermolen general manager for InterContinental Los Angeles Century City. Vermolen has been with the property since pre-opening when InterContinental took over management of the former Park Hyatt in January 2007. With more than 21 years experience in the hospitality industry, Vermolen has many years of international experience in Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, France and Netherlands. Prior to moving to Los Angeles last year, Raymond was the hotel manager of The Barclay New York.
Liberty Travel, which was recently acquired by Australian travel company Flight Centre, has named Cathy Pelaez president. Dean Smith was named president of wholesale division GOGO Worldwide Vacations. Pelaez was most recently Liberty's chief operating officer. Smith has spent the last 12 years with Flight Centre, which includes experience in retail, wholesale and product fields.
Skybus, an ultra-low-cost carrier that has been operating for less than a year, has named Mike Hodge its CEO, following the resignation of Bill Diffenderffer. Hodge was previously Skybus' chief financial officer. Before that, he was with Tiger Management, a hedge fund that participated in the initial equity funding of Skybus. Diffenderffer told the Skybus board of directors he was resigning to return to the book-writing career he left in 2005 when he joined the startup airline. Skybus, a carrier modeled after Europe's Ryanair, flies point-to-point routes to 17 US destinations, many of them secondary airports. It is based in Columbus, OH.
XOJET, a private aviation service, has appointed Eilif Serck-Hanssen chief financial officer and president of international operations and expansion. Prior to joining XOJET, Serck-Hanssen served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Eos Airlines.
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Names In The News 3/6/08
Carlson Cos. is now officially under the leadership of Hubert Joly, former CEO of travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Joly, who became Carlson's first non-family CEO in its 70-year history, took over for the retiring Marilyn Carlson Nelson, who remains Carlson's chairman.
Hilton Hotels has announced that Tom Keltner, CEO of the Americas and global brands, will resign from his position in June. His successor has not been named. Keltner had been Hilton's president of brand performance and franchise development before being named CEO of the Americas and global brands last March. Keltner has indicated that he may work with Chris Nassetta, Hilton's CEO, as an advisor for "a couple of years."
Hilton has also announced the appointment of Guy Hutchinson to lead the Hilton Shanghai, effective March 22. He will succeed Volkmar Ruebel, who is retiring from the company. Hutchinson joined Hilton Hotels in 1997 and is currently the general manager of Hilton Carins, Australia.
InterContinental Hotels Group has promoted Ronen Nissenbaum to regional vice president of operations, responsible for overseeing and driving the performance of 14 hotels in the North American portfolio. He will be based in Atlanta and report to Lew Fader, vice president operations. Nissenbaum began his career with IHG in 1996 as hotel manager at the InterContinental Paris and then became the general manager in Berlin and Tel Aviv. He then transferred to Atlanta, where he opened the InterContinental Buckhead. Shortly thereafter, he became IHG's regional vice president of operations for the South East Region.
JetCorp Technical Services has named Anthony Sanchez to the newly-created position of national vice president of customer service and business development for its heavy jet maintenance, avionics and executive interior refurbishment services. Sanchez will be supported by Burton Schriber and Sam Mansolino who were named regional sales managers, East and West, respectively. JetCorp is part of Sentient Flight Group.
Marriott International has announced that Barbara Shuster has been named senior director of marketing for its ExecuStay temporary-housing brand. Shuster joined Marriott in 1998 and has held positions with Avendra, global sales, Marriott Rewards and Marriott Vacation Clubs International. In her various roles, she has lead efforts in sales, training, marketing, product and program development, brand awareness and demand generation.
PhoCusWright has added two new staff members: Douglas Quinby, joining the company as senior director, research, and Carroll Rheem, joining as director, research. Rheem will be contribute to in-depth market reports, survey findings and analysis for The PhoCusWright Subscription: Global Edition and Special Reports, as well as serving custom client needs. She comes to the company with six years of experience at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, where she worked in various positions encompassing hotel operations, sales and online distribution. Quinby will also conduct research for PhoCusWright. He has been contributing to PhoCusWright research as a leisure travel analyst for many years.
RADIUS has expanded its multinational sales team with the promotion of Chris Weedon to director for multinational corporate sales for Europe. Weedon, who will report directly to Kieran Hartwell, vice president of multinational corporate sales, joined RADIUS in mid-2007 and has been responsible re-engineering the RFP process as multinational bid manager. He will supervise this function as part of his new role. Additionally, Weedon is serving on the RADIUS task force that is shaping the company's corporate social responsibility position. Weedon has been heavily involved in the travel industry over the last three years, including a position at HARP wallen where he headed up a corporate travel department.
The Generation Companies has named Manhattan investment banker Andrew G. Bene to its Board of Advisors. Generation, based in Research Triangle Park, NC, develops and manages extended stay hotels in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida.
South African Airways (SAA) has named Paula Newton director of sales for the US's Western region, based in the Los Angeles area; and Katherine Jochen director of sales for the Northeast, based in the New York City metropolitan area. Newton most recently was SAA's director of marketing events and promotions, responsible for negotiating and coordinating the carrier's participation in many corporate and community events and enhancing the airline's brand position in North America. Prior to joining SAA, Jochen was market development manager in the US
for Ethiopian Airlines.
StarCite's president and CEO, Michael Boult, has announced his March 18 resignation. He will be temporarily replaced by StarCite's chief operating officer, Keith Forshew, while a search is completed for a new president and CEO. Boult will remain a member of the company's board of directors.
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New York's Passenger Bill Of Rights Thrown Out Of Court
The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out New York's air passenger bill of rights, reasoning that it was impractical to require airlines to adhere to the rules of individual states. "If New York's view regarding the scope of its regulatory authority carried the day, another state could be free to enact a law prohibiting the service of soda on flights departing from its airports, while another could require allergen-free food options on its outbound flights, unraveling the centralized federal framework for air travel," the court said.
The Air Transport Association (ATA), a trade group to which all the major US airlines belong, applauded the ruling. "The court's decision vindicates the position of ATA and the airlines - that airline services are regulated by the federal government and that a patchwork of laws by states and localities would be impractical and harmful to consumer interests," said ATA. "This clear and decisive ruling sends a strong message to other states that are considering similar legislation." The New York law would have guaranteed airline passengers fresh air, water and working toilets when flights are delayed on the ground for more than three hours.
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New Yorker Begins Lobby Renovation
The New Yorker Hotel, across the street from Madison Square Garden, has begun the overhaul of its lobby as part of a $65 million remodeling project. The lobby renovation will include the restoration of the original marble floor, which is currently carpet-covered; the addition of lounge seating; the installation of a feature chandelier; the installation of art deco-inspired wall sconces on all six lobby pillars; a gold-painted ceiling; new check-in and concierge desks; a mirrored wall for a more open look; new signage; and the opening the entire lobby window line, offering guests a full view of Eighth Avenue from 34th Street to 35th Street. The lobby refit is expected to take approximately six weeks; the hotel is remaining open during the renovation.
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Northwest-Delta Merger Plan Stumbles On Pilot Seniority Debate
Pilots from Delta and Northwest have failed to reach an agreement on pilot seniority lists, possibly squashing a merger between the two airlines, according to published reports. The carriers have been planning a tie-up for months. Delta will not go for the Northwest pilot union's suggestion to decide pilot seniority via arbitration.
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NYLO Sub-brand To Offer Allergy-friendly Rooms
The new XP by NYLO Hotels, a sub-brand of NYLO, will feature allergy-friendly guestrooms, thanks to an agreement NYLO reached with Pure Solutions North America. Each XP by NYLO hotel will have at least 10 Pure Rooms, with a recommendation that up to one-quarter of the inventory incorporate this comprehensive air purification system.
NYLO already has a deal with Pure for the main brand; the flagship NYLO Plano at Legacy in Texas has 47 Pure Rooms. Each follows a seven-step process designed to kill at least 98 percent of indoor allergens and bacteria. A Class 2 medical-grade air purifier does most of the work, circulating air through filters four to five times per hour. Tea tree oil keeps the heating and cooling system contaminant-free, while Pure Shield, applied to every surface throughout the room, makes it difficult for bacteria, viruses and other contaminants to survive. The rooms also have hypoallergenic linens and covers.
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Oakwood Launches After-Hours Phone Service
Oakwood Worldwide, a temporary housing provider, has introduced an after-hours guest services program for US customers from its operations center in Phoenix. Oakwood says it will respond to all guest calls when the operations offices are closed in the evenings or on weekends. Experienced customer service professionals are trained to respond to guests, collect information and determine the best course of action needed for resolution, says Oakwood.
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Omni Repairing Tornado Damage To Atlanta Hotel
The Omni Hotel at CNN Center has begun renovations in the aftermath of the tornado that hit downtown Atlanta on March 14. The hotel remained open during the storm and is currently operating with approximately 600 of its total 1,070 guest rooms, the majority of its meeting space and all of its food and beverage venues.
The hotel says approximately 170 rooms in the South Tower had broken window glass, and that only eight of the 600 guest rooms in the North Tower sustained damage. Renovation of the South Tower has begun, and all guest rooms will be closed in the tower to minimize disruption, says Omni.
By mid-April, a total of approximately 850 guest rooms will be available at the hotel. The hotel says it is working with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and other hotels to relocate business where necessary.
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Oneworld Member Airlines Moving To New Terminal In Shanghai
Five members of the Oneworld airline alliance are moving to the new Terminal 2 at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in a series of moves that started this week. British Airways and Qantas transferred to the new facility when it opened on March 26. Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and Finnair will follow on April 29.
American Airlines intends to move to Terminal 2 at a later date, but will remain in Terminal 1 for now, alongside Japan Airlines (JAL) and code-share partner China Eastern. JAL and China Eastern intend to stay in Terminal 1.
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Orbitz Survey Finds Biz Travelers Won't Sacrifice Comfort For Cost
Despite indications that businesses are curtailing travel expenditures in a tightening economy, many business travelers aren't sacrificing comfort, according to an Orbitz for Business online survey of 261 adults who have traveled on business this year. Sixty-five percent say they would pay extra for benefits such as refundable fares, priority/exit row seating and other conveniences. When it comes to seating upgrades, 40 percent said their company would cover the cost of an upgrade of $50 or less at check-in.
The Orbitz survey also looked into flight time restrictions, and found that a majority of business travelers can fly whenever they choose, however some are prohibited from flying during normal business hours if at all possible. Fifty-six percent say their employer places no restrictions on when they book flights for business travel; 36 percent say at times they might be required to travel before or after normal business hours but can otherwise select their own flight times; 8 percent say that their employers mandate traveling before or after business hours unless it is not possible to do so.
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Plaza Project In Las Vegas Receives Approval
The Las Vegas County Commission has approved a plan by Elad IDB Las Vegas to build a Plaza-branded hotel on the Strip, on the site of the former New Frontier Hotel & Casino. Completion of the project is scheduled for 2011. When complete, the $5 billion Plaza-branded property will have seven towers housing a luxury hotel with 4,100 rooms; 2,600 private residences; retail outlets; a casino; destination restaurants; an entertainment venue and a convention complex.
The completion of the design and the start of the excavation are scheduled to begin no earlier than the end of 2008, says Elad IDB Las Vegas.
The developing company is a joint venture of Elad Group and IDB Holdings. Elad Group is a real estate development company that bought the Plaza Hotel in New York in 2004. That hotel reopened earlier this month after a three-year, $400 million renovation.
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Porter Airlines Beginning Service To US, Expanding Fleet
Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which begins service between Newark and Toronto on March 31, has exercised existing options for two Bombardier Aerospace Q400 aircraft. The order represents aircraft 11 and 12 in the Porter fleet and is scheduled for delivery in early 2009.
Porter operates a 70-seat version of the Q400, one of the most fuel-efficient aircraft in its class, burning less fuel per seat than most regional and narrow-body jets. Its aircraft offer leather seating, extended legroom and a 667 km/h cruising speed.
The airline currently serves Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Mt. Tremblant.
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Priceline Launches Mobile Services
Priceline.com has introduced a suite of mobile services that enable travelers with web-enabled wireless devices to search hotel inventories, pricing and availability in real-time; book rooms; check the status of their flights; and see Zagat reviews for restaurants and attractions.
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Qantas Set To Launch New Service From Los Angeles
Qantas Airways says it will be operating 47 weekly flights between the US and Australia when it commences new service to Brisbane and Sydney in coming weeks. The new services include two flights per week between Los Angeles and Brisbane; one flight per week between Los Angeles and Sydney; and one flight per week between Honolulu and Sydney. The Los Angeles service begins on March 27, and the Honolulu service starts April 5.
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Qatar Airways To Fly To Houston
Qatar Airways will begin flying three weekly nonstops between Houston and Doha, Qatar, on November 10. The airline plans to go to daily service in December. Houston will become the third US destination served by Qatar Airways; it already flies to Newark and Washington Dulles.
The new service makes Qatar Airways the second Middle Eastern carrier to offer nonstop flights to Houston. Emirates is the other.
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Qdrivium Launches Reservation & Billing System For Limo Companies
Qdrivium has launched a web-based reservation and dispatch system for black car and limousine companies. Qdrivium says the end-to-end solution is designed to eliminate manual data entry, improve customer service, offer a paperless voucher solution and provide real-time billing to corporate clients.
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Radisson Offers More Menu Choices
Radisson Hotels & Resorts has enhanced its Tasteful Choices menu, doubling the number of breakfast, lunch and dinner options for hotels in the US, beginning in May. In refining the menu, Carlson turned to its guests and Radisson chefs to find out which foods appeal most to their lifestyles, appetites and special needs. Additionally, Radisson partnered with the Culinary Institute of America to develop Tasteful Choices recipes that range from healthy and low-fat options for health-conscious travelers to decadent options for travelers wanting to indulge. Each hotel and resort will feature between eight and 15 Tasteful Choices items on restaurant, room service and/or catering menus.
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Rail Europe Starts Selling Spain's AVE Train
Tickets and passes on Spain's new high-speed train, Alta Velocidad Espanola (AVE), can now be booked in North America through Rail Europe. The AVE train travels at speeds of 186 mph and covers the distance of 342 miles between Madrid and Barcelona in less than three hours. Travel time was previously four hours.
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Renaissance Completes Renovations In NYC, Chicago
The first parts of a $2 billion global upgrade program by the owners and franchisees of Renaissance hotels are being completed. The Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square has finished its $24 million renovation. And the former Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago has reopened as The Blackstone, a Renaissance Hotel, after a $128 million renovation of a long-dormant, 23-story building. The property, known as Chicago's "Hotel of Presidents" because several US presidents have stayed there, is a national landmark in the city's South Loop downtown.
Eden Roc, a Renaissance Resort in Miami, is adding a 283-room tower and public space as well as a refurbishing the existing hotel. Completion of the renovation is set for late 2008; the new tower is scheduled to open in 2009.
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RETI Publishes Best Practices For Sustainable Tourism
The Renewable Energy in Tourism Initiative (RETI) has developed a set of best practices that can be downloaded at www.renewabletourism.org. RETI says its manuals feature case studies of industry leaders that have adopted best practices in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Six tourism sectors are represented: accommodations, airlines, cruise lines, public lands agencies, ski resorts and tour operators.
RETI is a nonprofit group consisting of the University of Colorado's Energy Initiative and Leeds School of Business; the North Carolina Center for Sustainable Tourism at East Carolina University; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Sustainable Travel International; and travel industry participants.
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RockResorts To Add Caribbean Property To Portfolio
RockResorts International will manage the Third Turtle Club & Spa on the island of Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos when it opens in 2011. The company also will provide advisory services to the builder, Oceanpoint Developments. RockResorts, based in Broomfield, CO, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts.
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Shangri-La Hotel Qingdao Opens New Tower
The Shangri-La Hotel in Qingdao, China, opened its luxury Valley Wing extension this month. The new tower adds 196 guest rooms to the Shangri-La's existing 500. The rooms are the city's largest at 581 square feet, says Shangri-La. Valley Wing guests arrive at a separate lobby entrance and automatically receive in-room check-in, the pressing of one suit and shoeshine on arrival and use of the Valley Wing lounge for breakfast, all refreshments and cocktails.
Business facilities such as meeting rooms and computers are also available for Valley Wing guests. A health club will open in April.
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Sheraton Brand To Receive Major Face-lift
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts has launched a comprehensive new design of its lobbies and guests rooms. The multi-year project includes $1.3 billion in renovations, $400 million in brand initiatives and $2 billion in new hotels. Sheraton will upgrade 100 hotels in the US, nearly half its North American portfolio, renovate 50,000 guestrooms and redesign more than 100 lobbies.
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Sheraton Stonebriar Opens North Of Dallas
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of Sheraton Stonebriar Hotel in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. The Sheraton Stonebriar opens with 119 rooms, 1,000 square feet of event space, a three-meal restaurant and fitness center. A second phase of construction will create a 250-room property with 27,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop, oasis pool. Construction for phase two is targeted to begin in the fall of 2008 and is scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2010.
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Singapore To Operate All-Premium Service To The US
Singapore Airlines will convert five long-range aircraft into an all-business-class configuration this fall for daily flights from Newark and Los Angeles to Singapore. The airline cited consistently strong demand from business travelers as reason for launching the service. The current two-class, 181-seat configuration will be replaced with 100 of the airline's business-class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, giving every passenger aisle access. Seats will convert to a horizontal flat bed.
The implementation will be phased in gradually from mid-May 2008, on the Newark-Singapore route, with daily services in the new configuration to Newark by the end of June and Los Angeles by late September.
To manage the retrofit program, the current daily Los Angeles-Singapore flight will not operate on Tuesdays between mid-May and late-June. There will be no change to Newark service frequency.
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SkyTeam Airlines Teaming Up To Build Heathrow Lounge
As they plan new service and relocation to Terminal 4 at London Heathrow, the members and associates of the SkyTeam alliance serving or planning to serve the airport are jointly determining the design of their co-branded, 325-seat lounge. It will be the first such facility fully branded as SkyTeam in the alliance network.
The first floor of the multi-level lounge will open to alliance passengers traveling through Heathrow, including customers of SkyTeam associate airlines serving the airport, this fall. At that point, Continental, Delta, Kenya Airways, KLM and Northwest will already be operating in Terminal 4. The opening of the second floor of the lounge in Spring 2009 will be in conjunction with the relocation of the remaining alliance carriers to be serving Heathrow: Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines and Korean Air.
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Southwest Grounds 41 Jets, Faces $10M Fine For Missed Safety Checks
Southwest Airlines grounded 41 aircraft on Tuesday night (March 11), five days after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it aimed to collect a $10.2 million civil penalty from the airline for flying planes that had missed safety checks.
According to an FAA announcement, Southwest notified the FAA that, as part of an internal safety audit, the airline grounded the planes until it could verify with the FAA that it had correctly followed inspection guidance stated in an airworthiness directive related to a specific area of the aircraft surrounding the windows.
The saga began last Thursday when the FAA last Thursday initiated an action to collect the civil penalty from Southwest for operating 46 airplanes without performing mandatory inspections for fuselage fatigue cracking. Subsequently, the airline found that six of the 46 airplanes had fatigue cracks.
From June 18, 2006 to March 14, 2007, the FAA alleges, Southwest operated 46 planes on 59,791 flights while failing to comply with a FAA Airworthiness Directive that required repetitive inspections of certain fuselage areas to detect fatigue cracking. The FAA further alleges that after Southwest discovered that it had failed to accomplish the required repetitive inspections between March 15 and March 23, 2007, it continued to operate those same 46 airplanes on an additional 1,451 flights.
Southwest, which plans to appeal the civil penalty, has called the fine "unprecedented and unfair." Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said that when the airline discovered that it had failed to inspect the planes in question, it was because of "a gap in our documentation. We voluntarily reported that to the FAA. We worked out with the FAA how to fix that problem, and we fixed it." He said Southwest re-inspected the planes in a matter of 10 days.
On Tuesday, after Southwest ordered an independent investigation into the matter, Kelly said three employees were placed on administrative leave and that the airline had hired a "respected outside consultant with proven experience" to help review its maintenance program controls. "I am concerned with some of our findings as to our controls over procedures within our maintenance airworthiness directive and regulatory compliance processes," Kelly said. "I have insisted that we have the appropriate maintenance organizational and governance structure in place to ensure that the right decisions are being made."
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Spirit To Set Up Operations At Long Island Airport
Spirit Airlines will launch twice-daily service from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, NY, to Fort Lauderdale on May 1. "This is another step toward our strategic goal of providing expanded service and more destinations to the traveling public," says Town of Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan. "We're hopeful that Spirit will continue to grow their presence at MacArthur."
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Star Alliance, SAA Focus On Building African Market
South African Airways (SAA) is moving into the next phase of its membership of Star Alliance, with both parties focusing their efforts on furthering their combined presence on the African continent. Star Alliance members have pledged their support for SAA by deciding to drive traffic through SAA's hub in Johannesburg. SAA, a two-year alliance member, will continue to focus on Africa as part of its restructuring and will expand its African route network to new destinations as well as add capacity on various routes, Star Alliance said.
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Stoneleigh Hotel Reopens In Dallas
The Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas has opened after being shut for 14 months for a $36 million renovation. The 170-room boutique hotel has 170 guest rooms, a new bar and restaurant and a spa. The hotel was originally built in 1923.
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Swire Starts Boutique Hotel Chain In China, UK
Swire Properties has formed Swire Hotels and announced the opening of its first property, the Opposite House in Beijing. Hong Kong-based Swire Properties is a division of Swire Pacific, the principal shareholder in Cathay Pacific Airways. Swire says the hotel company was formed to create and manage small, luxury hotels in Hong Kong, mainland China and the UK.
The 99-room Opposite House will open this summer in the Village at Sanlitun, Swire's first retail development in mainland China. Future plans include a 117-room hotel in Hong Kong, in Swire's Pacific Place mixed-use development, to open in the summer of 2009; a 100-room hotel at Taikoo Hui in Guangzhou, scheduled to open in 2010; and management of East, a boutique business hotel, due to open in Island East, Hong Kong, in 2009.
In the UK, Swire is developing a collection of boutique hotels to be launched in 2009. Properties have been acquired in Bristol, Cheltenham, Exeter and Brighton.
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Synxis Renews Deal With European Reseller
Synxis, the Sabre Holdings business that provides hotel distribution and Internet marketing services, has signed a new three-year agreement during with its Berlin-based reseller, Yeeld Solutions. Yeeld distributes Synxis' RedX Distribution Management System to small and mid-size hotel groups throughout Europe.
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Teamsters Cast Doubts On Benefits Of UAL-CO Merger
The Teamsters union says it will oppose a merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines unless such a deal benefits workers at both airlines. The Teamsters represents 3,800 active airline mechanics at Continental Airlines; 9,300 mechanics at United are now voting on whether to switch their representation to the Teamsters from the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association.
"Most airline mergers are bad for passengers, bad for workers and good for top management," says Jim Hoffa, Teamsters general president. "United has a track record of giving outrageous salaries to top executives while workers suffer. A merger would probably bring more of the same." The Teamsters sent a letter to UAL Corp. on February 20 demanding that it overhaul its compensation practices and citing United CEO Glenn Tilton's $40 million paycheck last year, taken "while rank-and-file workers took pay cuts and lost half their pensions."
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TraveLeaders Sold To Former Carlson Business
Travel Acquisitions Group (TAG), formerly Carlson Leisure Group, has acquired TraveLeaders from American Leisure Holdings. TraveLeaders, a Florida-based travel agency that does corporate and leisure business, will maintain its brand identity and headquarters in Coral Gables as it becomes a subsidiary of TAG's Travel Franchise Group.
In 2007, TraveLeaders arranged travel bookings of $223.3 million through its nine full-service agencies in Florida, California and Ohio as well as through virtual and corporate on-site locations. TAG was formed in January 2008 when Carlson Cos. sold Carlson Leisure Group to the management team led by Michael Batt. TAG's clients include independently owned agencies that sell travel under the Carlson Wagonlit brand.
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Trondent Approved By Sabre
Trondent Development Corp., a provider of web-based software applications and data-processing services to the business travel industry, has signed a new agreement with the Sabre Travel Network, reaffirming its status as a Sabre authorized developer. The renewed relationship is the latest of several recent agreements Sabre has entered into with third-party development companies as part of a re-authorization process begun last year.
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Trust Enables Total Hotel Pricing For Amadeus Users
Trust International, a provider of hotel reservation services and distribution technology, has added Amadeus to the roster of GDSs whose total pricing features are supported by the Trust|Voyager central reservations system. Total pricing enables hotels to provide a total price, inclusive of all known taxes, surcharges and extra option pricing, within one display.
Users of Voyager can now take advantage of this GDS feature in Sabre, Galileo, Worldspan and Amadeus.
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TSA To Test Self-select Lanes At Six More Airports
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says it will expand the pilot project for its self-select security lane program to six more airports by the end of April. The pilot was launched last month in Salt Lake City and Denver. The TSA hasn't decided which airports will get self-select Lanes, but it is in the process of selecting additional airports based on checkpoint configuration and passenger traffic.
Self-select lanes are designated by signage that directs passengers based on their travel needs and knowledge: expert for the business traveler who flies several times a month, casual for passengers who travel less frequently but are familiar with the security process, and family/special assistance for passengers traveling with small children or strollers, elderly passengers and passengers who may need special assistance.
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United Hedges 20% Of '08 Fuel Needs, Will Weed Out Gas-guzzlers
United Airlines expects to reduce its fleet size by 15 to 20 aircraft by the end of the year. Jack Brace, United's executive vice president and chief financial officer, says the aircraft targeted for removal are older, less fuel-efficient, narrow-body aircraft.
Also, Brace says, United has increased its fuel hedges since January, and now has 20 percent of its fuel hedged for 2008. The airline is looking to further reduce other costs and is reviewing non-aircraft capital spending, having already delayed the purchase of new aircraft "until the industry recovers to a level where those assets can earn a reasonable return."
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US Airways Mechanics Unify Contract, Reap 10% Pay Hike
US Airways and its mechanics, represented by the International Association of Machinists, have reached a tentative agreement on a unified contract that moves all mechanics and other maintenance-related employees to one labor contract. The contract, if ratified, would move pre-merger America West maintenance-and-related employees to the higher pay scales of the pre-merger US Airways labor contract. Also, IAM members' pay would increase across the board by 10 percent, effective immediately upon ratification. The agreement covers approximately 3,300 employees (800 from pre-merger America West and 2,500 from pre-merger US Airways). US Airways, which merged with America West in 2005, still does not have unified deals with pilots or flight attendants.
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Virgin America Fares Now Available On Travelocity
Virgin America has begun distributing tickets on Travelocity. The San Francisco-based airline, which launched operations last August, also distributes on Orbitz among the major online travel agencies.
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Virgin America Launches Seattle-San Francisco Route
Virgin America has begun thrice-daily service between its home base of San Francisco and Seattle. Three daily roundtrips between Los Angeles and Seattle will begin on April 8, with a fourth roundtrip starting on May 11.
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Virgin Atlantic To Use Fuel-cell SUVs For Limo Service
Virgin Atlantic will offer business-class passengers complimentary airport transportation in a zero-emissions Chevrolet Equinox. The SUVs are powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Initially, passengers in Los Angeles will take part in the trial. The service is expected to be extended to New York later this year.
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Virgin Charter's Online Marketplace Exits Beta Phase
Virgin Charter, a Virgin Group company, has launched its online marketplace for private air travel. The launch marks the conclusion of a beta period during which an exclusive group of corporate and individual buyers utilized the marketplace. Virgin Charter clients submit their trip request online, compare offers from other charter operators, select the best offer and buy online.
Travelocity Business was selected as a launch partner; Virgin Charter will provide charter solutions for Travelocity Business clients who want to fly private.
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W Hotel Under Construction In Boston
W Hotels will open its first property in Boston in 2009, in the heart of the city’s theater district. The W Boston Hotel & Residences will have 235 guest rooms, 123 residences and a restaurant.
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W Offers Car Service With Acura SUVs
Acura and W Hotels have created the Acura Experience, a livery service available to hotel guests of W Hotels. From April 1 to January 31, 2009, guests of all 18 W hotels in North America will have the option of being chauffeured in Acura's 2008 MDX, a luxury SUV with seating for seven. Many of the hotels will feature an Acura Experience Desk in the W living rooms spaces, where guests can book the service.
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Waldorf-Astoria Slated For Sarasota, FL
Hilton plans to manage a new, 225-room Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Sarasota, FL. The property will be a key component of The Proscenium, a mixed-use development in the downtown area. The project is presently being reviewed by the city.
Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter 2008 with an anticipated completion by the end of 2010. The hotel will have 38,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, a Peacock Alley Lounge, restaurants, a spa and a rooftop pool overlooking downtown Sarasota and the bay front. Within the 18-story hotel tower, there will be 67 Waldorf-Astoria residences.
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Westin To Brand Convention Hotel North Of Dallas
O&S Holdings and the McKinney Economic Development Corp. have broken ground on the first phase of the Bridge Street Town Centre in McKinney, Texas, a city about 20 miles north of Dallas. The first phase of the development, scheduled to open in the fall of 2009, consists of the 221-room Westin McKinney, the 43,000-square-foot McKinney Convention Center and the Collin College (formerly Collin Community College) Higher Education Center. The Westin will be McKinney's first-full service hotel.
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WestJet Launches First Service To New York Area
WestJet will launch daily, seasonal service from Calgary to Newark on June 2. It will be Canadian low-cost airline's first New York-area service. Bob Cummings, WestJet's executive vice president of marketing, says the departure times, 10:15am from Calgary and 6pm from Newark, will be "very convenient for business travel between Calgary and New York," and that the service will "add to WestJet's continually improving business schedule."
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WorldMate Adds Support For Mac Users
WorldMate, a provider of mobile travel services for business travelers, has upgraded WorldMate Live so that Mac users have full access to the travel planning tool. In addition, WorldMate Live can now read travel confirmation e-mails received in Lotus Notes, Yahoo Mail and Windows Live Mail, among others.
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Wynne Buys Motorcoach Company
Wynne Sedan & Limousine Group of Dallas has acquired Priority One Motorcoach, also based in Dallas. Priority One Motorcoach specializes in providing chauffeured ground transportation services to corporations and sports teams. The two companies will be operated as separate business entities.
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