Airlines
Travel Advisors Are All-Stars
In the Agents’ Choice 2020 Readership Survey, the value of using a travel agent is showcased in the issue’s feature story. In the wake of travel bans, restrictions, cancellations and last-minute re-booking needs brought on by the pandemic, it became apparent that those who used travel advisors were better off than those who decided to go it alone. “I have never been told so many times how absolutely lost they would have been without a travel agent to find alternate flights home, cancel their trips for refunds or credits and take care of everything. I was able to assist all my...
Air Canada Taking Care Of Its Employees
Air Canada said it plans to explore the application of COVID-19 contact tracing technology in its workplace using the Bluetooth enabled TraceSCAN app and wearable technology developed by Canadian-based Facedrive Inc. Samuel Elfassy, vice president, safety at Air Canada, said: “The health and safety of our employees is of paramount concern to Air Canada and is key to restoring our operations safely for our customers. Air Canada has embraced a science-based approach to managing COVID-19 and as part of this has committed to evaluate the use of new technologies like TraceSCAN's...
New Offer From Transat
In order to continue offering its customers maximum flexibility, Transat has announced that travellers who book packages in October will get free COVID-19 medical insurance and Option Flex Standard’s extra flexibility to change or cancel a trip as part of its Book Packages With Confidence offer. Travellers who book a package to the South or Europe by Oct. 31, 2020, for a departure by April 30, 2021, will get, at no extra cost: Option Flex Standard, which allows them to: Cancel their trip up to 72 hours before departure from Canada and get a travel credit Change their...
Restoring Confidence
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and IATA have signed a Memorandum of Understanding as the two parties work together to restart global tourism. Highlighting UNWTO’s unique status as a bridge between the UN system and the private sector, the new agreement will focus on enhancing consumer confidence in travel and placing sustainability at the centre of recovery and future growth. The signing of the MoU comes just ahead of the G20 Summit, with the UNWTO noting that from the start of the current crisis, it has led the way in addressing the key factor needed for the successful...
ATPCO Launches New Rich Content Format
ATPCO has launched a new format of Routehappy Rich Content: Structured UPAs (Universal Product Attributes). With the introduction of Structured UPAs, airlines and channels now have greater flexibility in how they display essential retailing content using more comparable, concise, and sortable data that can be presented to emphasize objective content over images. Originally, UPAs were created to introduce visual content in flight shopping displays, and have since been adopted by dozens of channels worldwide. Given the evolving needs of travellers amid the pandemic and the immediate...
Looming Cash Crisis Threatens Airlines: IATA
IATA is warning that the airline industry will burn through $77 billion in cash during the second half of 2020 -- almost $13 billion/month or $300,000 per minute -- despite the restart of operations. It points out that the slow recovery in air travel will see the airline industry continuing to burn through cash at an average rate of $5 to $6 billion per month in 2021. And the airline industry association is calling on governments to support the industry during the coming winter season with additional relief measures, including financial aid that does not add more debt to the...
Disappointed & Deeply Concerned
U.S. travel industry leaders were expressing “disappointment” at the breakdown in COVID-19 relief funding discussions and urging the White House and Congress to get back to the table and conclude a deal. Expressing “deep concern” and pointing to the havoc that the global pandemic has wreaked on the business travel industry, the Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) interim executive director, Dave Hilfman said that: “With hundreds of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, the business travel sector and the American economy need help now, not a month from...
A Call For Change
In an open letter to travel suppliers, the ACTA COVID-19 Travel Agency Leaders Advisory Committee calls for “a holistic review of the systemic practices and policies that are currently in place between travel agencies and travel suppliers.” The travel industry is going through an unprecedented crisis due to the global pandemic and it will be affected adversely for much longer than other industries. Tour operators, cruise lines, airlines, hoteliers, car rental companies and travel agencies have seen their business more or less come to a halt, the letter states. It...