Skift Take
In Skift’s top stories this week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says the airline company will beat margin leader Delta Air Lines by enhancing the passenger experience, Accor executives discuss why the hotel giant has had a hard time to make inroads in the U.S., and American Airlines CEO Doug Parker expresses confidence that company travel will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Rashaad Jorden
Throughout the week we are publishing original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on the effect of coronavirus. Every weekend we will use you an opportunity to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.
United CEO Pledges to Beat Margin-Leader Delta on Quality not Quantity: United CEO Scott Kirby is talking up his financial investments in product, and quality enhancements at the carrier. However it will still be a high obstacle to beat Delta Air Lines, the longstanding leader on quality and margins in the U.S.
Why Accor Struggles to Gain Traction in the U.S.: Some sort of marriage, whether an outright acquisition or more of a loyalty alliance, is required to offer Accor more powerful footing in the U.S. But the pandemic didn’t offer any chance to take advantage of takeover deals.
U.S. Bancorp to Purchase Will Smith-Backed Travel Platform TravelBank for $200 Million: Banks see that incorporating travel and cost products is an effective way to enhance their own charge card providing to clients, corporate or otherwise. Expect more offers before the year’s out.
American CEO Says Airline Will Coexist, Not Complete, With Zoom: Drawing parallels with the 1990s web boom may appear odd, however Doug Parker thinks history will repeat itself, and more relationship structure on virtual meeting platforms will only motivate more meetings personally.
Worldwide Hotel Rates Could Rise 4 Times Inflation in 2022: New Report: Companies shouldn’t underestimate the ripple effect of this year’s labor crisis, and this new report is a timely heads-up to help them much better handle their expenses next year.
Growing Vaccine Passport Scams Leaves Trip Operators Having A Hard Time to Split Down: As alleviated as many tour operators have actually been to resume journeys, the difficulties those companies deal with from vaccine scamsters are growing, and is a substantial distraction and threat for these companies attempting to come back from the precipice.
CWT Emerges From Bankruptcy With $100 Million to Buy Service Travel Tech: A milestone in the agency’s change legend, which might see its new owners choose to get other technology players, and target mid-size consumers, as part of its post-pandemic rehab.
OTA Insight Snatches $80 Million in Financing From Spectrum Equity: The SiteMinder IPO in Australia served as inspiration for various travel tech and data intelligence companies, including OTA Insight. The latter hopes that Spectrum Equity can help OTA Insight make a similar leap.
Soho House Will Raise Rates Fearlessly Regardless Of Increasing Inflation: Success remains elusive for Soho Home moms and dad Subscription Collective Group. Raising costs will assist the company eventually change this, however business leaders should take care about not scaring off people who could begin to believe membership no longer holds its worth.
What TAP Air Portugal Reveals Us About the Travel Recovery: A government bailout always helps, however the healing of Portugal’s house airline indicate the benefit of serving durable markets in South America and Africa.