Skift Take
Today’s podcast examines Option’s quote to get Wyndham, Expedia’s current round of layoffs, and United Airlines’ third quarter revenues.
Dawit Habtemariam
Good early morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, October 18. Here’s what you need to know about business of travel today.
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Episode Notes
Choice Hotels has actually made a public quote to acquire Wyndham Hotels in what would be a hostile takeover. Valued at nearly $8 billion, the deal would integrate the companies to create the largest franchisor of budget plan hotels in The United States and Canada, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neil.
Wyndham’s board of directors, however, openly turned down the deal, pointing out regulatory and execution risks and they stated the offer was not fair to its investors. Option made its deal public after its talks with Wyndham broke down in September. The two had remained in private negotiations over the previous six months.
Next, Expedia recently laid off around 100 staff members in its current round of task cuts. This is the online travel tech giant’s 2nd round of layoffs in current months, reports Online Travel Editor Dennis Schaal. Expedia’s recent layoffs follow Google, Hopper, Vacasa, Sonder and other tech companies cutting their labor forces.
Among the staff members Expedia laid off was a director of program management for AI, machine learning and information.
Finally, United reported strong in domestic demand in the third quarter. Experts had been fretted that the U.S. market would soften but United– and other airlines– aren’t seeing it yet. Revenues in the Atlantic and Pacific areas reached “record highs.”