The business travel industry in 2023 returned to pre-pandemic processes, if not volume. As it did so, however, new structural transformations took root, particularly among airlines, several of which notably shifted their distribution strategies. These changes are well reflected in the following list of the BTN reports that garnered the most unique readers in 2023, a list that includes not only airline distribution but also executive interviews and the latest technology breakthroughs.
1. Airline Continuous Pricing, Explained (Oct. 9)
BTN’s most-read story of 2023 was a primer on airlines’ efforts to use the New Distribution Capability airfare standard to move past the traditionally offered fare buckets to price their seats at any point on a theoretical curve. Espoused perhaps most notably by United Airlines, the philosophy has both supporters and detractors among buyers and travel management companies.
2. Amex GBT Restructuring to Two Global Segments: Multinational, SME (Jan. 25)
Travel management company American Express Global Business Travel in 2023 to reorganize its operations globally into divisions focusing on global and multinational customers and on small and medium-sized enterprises. Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott later in the year called the SME market “the largest growth opportunity, with the fastest growth and the highest margins in the industry.”
SME Wins Drive Amex GBT Q2 Transaction Growth
3. One Month Later, Industry Assesses American NDC Aftershocks (May 11)
American Airlines on April 3 followed through on its promise to remove about 40 percent of its fares from EDIFACT-connected distribution channels, making them available only through direct or NDC-enabled avenues. The dramatic move was closely watched by the industry for its effect on fare prices, availability and corporate demand. BTN in a two-part series looked first at the industry’s reaction to American’s move, then at the ways TMCs were managing the change.
TMCs Wrestle with New NDC Reality
4. Marriott CEO: As Bleisure Lines Blur, Strategy Changes (March 13)
The incomplete post-pandemic return of business travel counteracted by stout leisure travel demand spurred some hotel executives to reconsider their optimal business mix. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano during a virtual Business Travel Show Europe kickoff event, however, told BTN that managed business travel remained “critical” for the company but that it was strategizing to attract blended business and leisure trips. The second part of the interview can be read here.
5. Delta Confirms China Flight Resumption in March (Jan. 13)
China was the last major business travel market to lift its lockdowns and restrictions related to Covid-19, and on Jan. 8, 2023, dropped its requirement for travelers to quarantine before entering the country. Afterward, carriers began to announce plans to increase service between China and the United States. That service would increase further after a 2023 agreement between the two countries to raise the number of permissible flights.
Covid, Red Tape, High Prices Challenge China’s Great Reopening
6. CEO Cohen Defends Navan’s Approach, Details TMC Strategy (Feb. 14)
Travel management company Navan began 2023 under its original name, TripActions, but rebranded in February. CEO Ariel Cohen talked to BTN about the name change, corporate strategy and views of Navan within the industry. Cohen would land on BTN’s 25 Most Influential of 2023 list.
7. AA Reshapes Corp. Sales Org to Align with New Business Mix (Feb. 16)
American Airlines’ 2023 moves weren’t limited to its distribution strategy. The company in February shuffled its corporate sales strategy and department to support a new business environment in which an “increasing number” of customers seek “to interact directly with American,” according to the carrier. That move and the removal of fares illustrated American’s new approach to the agency and corporate markets. Six months after this report, longtime AA corporate sales executives Hank Benedetti, Kyle Mabry and Thoman Rajan left the company as part of a second restructure. And there’s more AA on this list to come.
Contracted Corp. Business Losing Prominence at American
8. Race Away From Transaction Fees Remains Close to Starting Line (Feb. 3)
The height of the pandemic brought with it a renewed focus on TMC pricing models, with some agencies, suffering amid travel shutdowns, hoping to shift away from transaction fees perhaps toward management fees. But BTN reported in February little traction in post-pandemic pricing model shifts, with TMC executives noting corporate customer resistance.
9. American to Replace SME Business Loyalty Program (Oct. 16)
Again underscoring its push for direct corporate relationships, American Airlines last fall unveiled a new business program geared to small and midsized clients, for which bookings through agencies would be ineligible for point accrual. Interestingly, United Airlines in December said it would limit bookings through its PerksPlus small business loyalty program only to those clients booking through TMCs.
10. How ChatGPT will Transform Travel Management (March 17)
Artificial intelligence text-generating program ChatGPT took the world by storm in 2023, and the managed travel industry was no exception, with several companies looking to the technology to power chatbots, aggregate data and automate answers to customer inquiries. Nowhere close to its presumed final form, ChatGPT’s applications for now still seems to fascinate the industry and travelers alike.
BTN’s 25 Most Influential of 2023
Bonus! 11. Rolling Out Concur’s New Booking Experience (Sept. 4)
SAP Concur is preparing to launch a new booking tool for air, hotel and car rental, and Concur president Charlie Sultan spoke with BTN about the company’s rollout plans. Development of the tool was influenced by Delta Air Lines, which Sultans and Delta’s Steve Sear spelled out in the second half of the interview.
