American, Southwest expand corporate travel programs

American Airlines and Southwest both unveiled new corporate travel initiatives Aug. 5, highlighting the increased competition among airlines to attract lucrative business travellers. Southwest’s expanded corporate travel program⁠—renamed Southwest Business⁠—will enable corporate travel managers to book, change and modify reservations through Travelport’s global distribution systems (GDS) and the Amadeus Travel Platform. The company predicts the expanded booking capabilities will be operational by mid-2020, and projects the initiative will produce $10-$20m incremental improvements in pre-tax results by H2 2020. Southwest is also partnering with the Airlines Reporting Corp. to develop industry-standard processes to handle the expanded reporting and settlement capabilities of tickets booked through Travelport and Amadeus channels. “For nearly 50 years, we’ve been a business traveller’s airline with high-frequency travel options and low fares. Today’s announcement evolves that philosophy even further by offering travel managers and business travelers new capabilities when booking Southwest travel in the channel of their choice,” Southwest president Tom Nealon said. American, meanwhile, also highlighted enhancements in its offerings for corporate travelers, which will also apply to its Atlantic joint business partners British Airways, Finnair and Iberia. <br/>