Airlines 

State Department Issues Summer Long Foreign Travel Alert

The State Department’s worldwide travel alert issued
after U.S. Special Forces units killed Osama bin Laden
advises Americans to exercise caution if they’re in
areas more prone to anti-American violence. It suggests
that travelers overseas enroll in the State Department’s
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) for travel
updates, information and security issues. It’s important
to note that support for Osama bin Laden in the Arab
world has fallen sharply, according to two highly
respected sources, the ABC News Polling Unit and the Pew
Research Center,    (Source, State Department press
release, ABCNews.com)

Issues New DOT Rules Give Passengers a Break

New Department of Transportation rules have brought
sweeping changes to the way airlines deal with you.
Airlines now must disclose hidden fees, pay back your
baggage fee if they lose your bags and pay you more for
bumping you—as much as doubling the amount in some
instances. Airlines now must let you cancel reservations
at no charge within 24 hours of making that reservation
as long as it is at least seven days before departure.
(Some airlines already do this). The new rule also
expands the ban on lengthy tarmac delays. What it
doesn’t do, however, is to require airlines to display
full fee information on any platform selling airline
fees. Right now, it only requires airlines to provide
all fee information on their own websites, but not to
travel agencies (online or brick and mortar)  or travel
management companies (TMCs). That makes it tough to do
comparison shopping when you’re trying to find the least
expensive flight. (Source: DOT press release, Global
Business Travel Association press releases).

Airlines Add Employees

For the third month in a row, passenger airline
employees increased, by one tenth of a percent. Three
network airlines cut employees–American Airlines,
Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, according to the
Department of Transportation. Low-cost carriers Virgin
America, Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, JetBlue
Airways, AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines
increased employees. Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines
reported a 3.1 percent decrease in employees. (Source:
DOT press release).

Air Revenues Are Up 13 Percent

Although airlines are battling high fuel costs, the Air
Transport Association reported that

passenger revenue rose 13 percent in March 2011 compared
to the same month in 2010, marking the 15th consecutive
month of revenue growth. U.S. domestic revenue grew 12.5
percent, fueled in large part by an 11.5 percent yield
increase.Trans-Atlantic revenue grew 7 percent from a
year ago, but represented the smallest increase of the
four major regions tracked by ATA, largely due to a
softer pricing environment. Trans-Pacific revenue rose
by 14 percent despite a 10 percentage point drop in load
factor.  Routes to and within the Pacific region posted
the largest yield increase (16 percent) of any region.
(Source: ATA press release).

Airlines Increase Capacity to Meet Demand

Planes are flying full, airline revenues are up, so
carriers are adding capacity, according to the OAG
Frequency  Capacity Trend Statistics. Airlines are
adding 17.9 million seats, a 6 percent increase, a
percentage point ahead of the 5 percent monthly capacity
increase so far this year. The Asia Pacific and Middle
East are showing the most growth, intra European routes
are next. China is now the second largest domestic
market, second only to the United States. (Source: OAG
press release).

Hotels

Summer Prospects Are Looking Up For U.S. Hotels

U.S. hotels should see occupancy and rates increase
modestly this summer, according to STR, a major hotel
consulting company. STR predicts that occupancies will
increase 1.7 percent to 66.7 percent and average daily
rates will increase 4.1 percent to $103.01. Demand
should recover in earnest this summer, according to STR,
but rising fuel costs could dampen that. (Source: STR
press release). 

U.S Hotel Occupancies Up 6.1 Percent in Spring

The U.S. hotel industry is building momentum. March
occupancy and rate numbers were up 6.1 percent and 3.8
percent respectively, according to STR.  That’s a sign
of an ongoing recovery, according to the hospitality
consulting company. Major markets showing rate increases
are San Francisco, up 12 percent, Oahu, up 9 concerns
that there is enhanced potential for anti-American
violence in the wake of bin Laden’s death are behind the
State Department’s worldwide travel alert. percent, New
Orleans, up 8.9 percent and Chicago, up 7 percent.
(Source: STR).
 

Car Rental  

Hertz Repositions Fun Cars and Green Collection

Hertz has renamed two of its collections. The Fun
Collection is now the Adrenaline Collection, which
features muscle cars such as the Camaro SS, the Mustang
GT Premium and the Challenger RT.  All will come with
free Sirius XM radio. The Green Collection is now the
Green Travel Collection and is made up entirely of
hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and
electric vehicles (EVs). By the end of the year, Hertz
expects to have hundreds of EVs on the road. (Source:
Hertz press release).

Spotlight On…..          

                   


New High for Business
Travel           

Business travel hit a post-recession high at the end of
the last quarter of 2010, according to the Global
Business Travel Association (GBTA). The GBTA Business
Travel Index (BTI) is at its highest level since the
recession began in 2008. This is good news for the
economy, since GBTA Foundation research shows that
increasing business travel spending is a leading
indicator of future job growth. Stronger economic growth
and the expectation of slightly higher prices drove the
BTI higher. 

* 

The GBTA revised the index upward from 108 for Q4 2010
to 112, its highest since Q3 2008

* 


That represent $1.9 billion more in business travel
spending than originally forecast

* 


For the year, total U.S. spending on business travel
grew 3.2 percent

* 


Business travel spending for 2011 is now expected to be
up 6.9 percent for the year, up from the original 5
percent forecast

* 

Travel costs are starting to increase, going up 2.5
percent in 2010 and projected to increase by 2 to 4
percent this year. 

Source: GBTA press release.

The Travel Team, Inc.

 is committed to providing you with useful information
on the latest developments in the travel industry. The
following information has been compiled from a variety
of sources and is updated monthly.