What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry.
- The common stock of AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange prior to January 5, NYSE Regulation announced. Trading under the stock symbol AMR, the stock closed January 3 at $0.29 per share. To remain listed, AMR would have had to trade at $1 per share or higher for the previous 30 days. AMR is in the midst of a Chapter 11 reorganization and it apparently won't be using its stock as a viable fundraising method.
- The American Society of Travel Agents released its annual Technology and Web Usage Report and the most dramatic change in 2011 was the finding that 65% of travel agents provide their clients with mobile access to their itineraries, up from 20% in 2010. In the travel agency owner and manager survey, sponsored by Sabre, 39% of agencies indicated they use CRM (customer relationship management) software, and the chief technology issues cited was "keeping up with technology changes and justifying the return on technology investment," ASTA says.
- ARC, the US-based airline-owned settlement organization, named Bonnie Reitz as chairman (or chairperson) of the board. Reitz, who was Continental Airlines' senior vice president of marketing, sales and distribution during its turnaround years under Gordon Bethune, replaces David Landuyt as ARC chairman. Landuyt gets the honorary title, chairman emeritus.
- Cheapflights has had a complaint against it over the availability of flights at particular prices from London to Colombia upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. While the ASA acknowledged wording on the website that "prices were subject to availability" and "check with the advertiser at the time of booking", it also noted that the complainant said he was willing to travel on any dates to avail of the fares. The authority also ruled the wording was insufficient in terms of making clear that flights at the stated prices might be "extremely limited".