Some five months after American Airlines' parent company AMR Corp. signed a letter of intent with HP for it to develop a new passenger service system, Jetstream, for the airline, AMR chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey said Jan. 20 that the two parties have yet to sign a definitive agreement. During AMR Corp.'s conference call about its fourth quarter 2009 earnings, in which the airline recorded a net loss of $344 million, Arpey said that the two parties have held detailed conversations about a definitive agreement, but haven't "pushed it over the finish line." Arpey said AMR Corp. expects to reach a definitive agreement with HP in the "near future."... Read More

In changing its traditional metasearch role, Kayak's plan to facilitate bookings by collecting customer information highlights the transformation of various travel industry segments into a sometimes-seeming amorphous mass. After all, Kayak, a travel metasearch and media company, intends to dabble in part of the consumer transaction, heretofore the turf of suppliers and travel agencies. And, by the way, Kayak also is getting involved in itinerary management -- the fiefdom of TripIt, TripCase and Traxo, among others -- with Kayak Trips. Kayak actually is playing a leadership role and is differentiating itself in its plan for "assisted bookings" through its mobile app, in Private Sale and on its websites, but if it is successful and the other metasearch players follow, then we'll begin to see a further blurring of roles among online travel agencies, suppliers and metasearch companies.... Read More

Father-son startup RoomAtlas has unveiled another highly practical piece of functionality to its site as it looks to build on its early and startling success. The duo have built a tool which lets users select a location for an event, create a dedicated URL for the occasion and produce a customised map with hotel availability during the selected dates. RoomAtlas launched in November 2009 and was praised not only for its inventiveness but ability to combine rates and availability from Expedia with TripAdvisor reviews on a single, Google Map-hosted page.... Read More

Another week, another trip and itinerary management website announcement - this time with bragging rights going to TripIt which has launched its Blackberry app this week. The company says the new app will be free and its launch follows testing around the user base for a few months. The app joins TripIt's existing products for the iPhone and Android platforms.... Read More

A quirk of fate and the intricacies of search engines has seen scandal-hungry web users probably bitterly disappointed to find themselves on the pages of a hotel revenue management and optimisation company. RateTiger, part of the eRevMax hospitality technology business, is reporting a surge in traffic to its web site after details of Tiger Woods and his various dalliances with other women were revealed to the world in December 2009. With Google searches for the golfing great increasing by 5,000% between November and December 2009, RateTiger has inevitably benefited from such frenetic activity.... Read More

A year is a long time in travel as well as politics - especially for Ryanair which has agreed today to publish its its fares on the Kayak metasearch engine. The surprise move comes not so long after the low-cost airline's widely publicised anti-screen scraping stance against online travel agencies, price comparison and metasearch sites. The deal will see Ryanair fares, availability and schedule information included on the Kayak site.... Read More

A survey which may surprise many at the sharp end of usability and web design has found travel sites ranking behind only news and media sites for overall usability by consumers. The poll by usability agency Webcredible of 1,000 consumers (around 40% US, 40% UK, 20% RotW) revealed just 9% found travel sites difficult to use, 2% behind news and media sites. Languishing in last place were government and local authority websites with 34% of respondents slamming the sector's range of websites for ease-of-use.... Read More

Expedia Inc. -- the parent company of Expedia.com, hotels.com, Hotwire, eLong, egencia, TripAdvisor and Venere, among others -- launched a Twitter account Jan. 13. In its first week, expediainc has tweeted three tweets about Haiti relief, why hoteliers should view online travel agencies as marketing vehicles [not mere booking engines] and an upcoming Expedia Media Solutions appearance at the American Lodging Investment Summit. There's not much excitement here yet, but Expedia Inc. is first dipping its toes into the water. Individual brands in the Expedia Inc. portfolio, including Expedia.com, which has more than 23,400 followers, have had Twitter accounts for some time.... Read More

Kayak's burgeoning effort to turn the metasearch model on its head by facilitating some aspects of consumer bookings will go much further than its mobile app, and eventually could permeate its websites. That's the word from Kayak co-founder and CEO Steve Hafner, who says "assisted bookings" will first be trotted out in its pending launch of Private Sale, will be woven into its mobile app "soon," and will be launched on its websites, too. One aspect of "assisted sales" that hasn't been thoroughly vetted is that the move could be a significant boost to Kayak's behavioral advertising efforts, and could be subject to some push-back from partners.... Read More

Two of the burning questions for Travelport ahead of its planned listing on the London Stock Exchange have already been answered - its ongoing strategy for investment in Orbitz and succession planning for its CEO. The travel technology and Global Distribution System provider is hoping to complete the listing in London within four to six weeks, subject to the investor roadshows planned for later this month and during February running smoothly. Although there is a 360-day lockdown of senior management and directors on completion of the offering, Tnooz can reveal deputy chief executive Gordon Wilson is most likely to take over once current president and CEO Jeff Clarke steps down.... Read More

FlyGlobespan administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers will have mixed feelings today following news that under fire credit card processing firm EClear was also placed into administration. On the one hand its protracted battle through the courts with the mysterious EClear is now over, but the question of what happened to the funds it supposedly owed to FlyGlobespan (and, by extension, the airline's creditors) remains at large. In a statement, PWC says it will now be working with BDO, the administrator appointed by the High Court in London to oversee the winding up of EClear, to find the missing money.... Read More

In the fourth of a series of exclusive interviews, Tnooz Node Claude Benard meets chief executive of Meetingsbooker, Ciaran Delaney. Delaney discusses how he created a business to solve a problem hundreds of hotels have with leasing space for meetings, growth opportunities in other markets, and the technology used to pull it all together.... Read More

Confirmed news this morning that Travelport has - true to the speculation reported yesterday - will list on the London Stock Exchange. A copy of the list documents required for an IPO in London indicate Travelport intends to raise $2 billion through by issuing new shares to the markets. Approximately $1.8 billion will be obtained via the global offer and a further $225 million from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).... Read More

Most popular travel websites in the US for the week ending January 16 2010. Data includes Top Ten travel search terms and the Top Ten Agency, Airline and Destination/Accommodation sites.... Read More

The JetBlue reservations system is slated to cut over from Navitaire to SabreSonic Jan. 29, a move the airline says will bring enhanced capabilities for travel agents through the Sabre, Travelport and Amadeus global distribution systems. However, despite the changes, travel agents using their GDSs to access JetBlue still -- for now, at least -- will lack basic functionalities that consumers take for granted when booking JetBlue. JetBlue, in a FAQ [pdf] for travel agencies, says the switch to Sabre as the host for the airline's reservations system brings the following improvements in the GDSs for travel agents: last seat availability, better inventory and fare capabilities, and "industry-standard e-ticketing."... Read More