GLG News by Airline Global Distribution System Experts

Christopher DanePresidentHRG-Executive Travel Associates

Marriott Knows What They Are Doing

June 18, 2007

Analysis of:Strange Bedfellows: Marriott, Schrager | online.wsj.com

•Marriott is very good at managing multiple brands. •Marriott has successfully kept brands/cultures separate. •Marriott Needed a boutique brand. •Marriott has a history of success in developing brands.

Christopher DanePresidentHRG-Executive Travel Associates

Increasing CAFE standards is not the answer

May 7, 2007

Analysis of:CAFE Break | online.wsj.com

* CAFE  standards never had the intended outcome.
* relies on something to happen in the future when what is needed something for today.
*  Making car makers accountable for conservation rather than the end user is illogical.
*  Drivers are ultimately responsible for conservation.
*  The solution is to follow the Europeans...charge what the charge for fuel and invest that money into the highway and road infrastructure.

David JarachManaging PartnerDiciottofebbraio Srl

US Military budget improves Boeing profitability

May 7, 2007

Analysis of:Boeing earnings 12% above expectations | www.bloggingstocks.com

- Boeing is performing better than direct competitor Airbus in the civilian market, where B777s and B787s are winning competition over the A350 and where B747ng is also promising better than A380;
- In the military market, Boeing is benefiting from improvement of US military budget;
- MRO business and aircraft conversions (from passenger to cargo, i.e.) is also growing as well.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

Iberia offer by TPG - Back door to Amadeus???

April 13, 2007

Analysis of:Iberia board to study TPG Capital offer | www.breakingtravelnews.com

Iberia is one of the owners of Amadeus, currently the #1 Global Distribution System in the world.  TPG most recently purchased Sabre, the #1 Global Distribution System in the largest GDS market in the world, the US.

TPG also has an interest, through its venture arm, in G2Switchworks, one of the early GDS New Entrants (otherwise known as GNEs). 

So could this be a back door move to buy a share in Amadeus, in order to merge Amadeus, G2 and Sabre?d

Time will tell.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

Private Equity now dominates ownership of Global Travel Distribution companies

March 30, 2007

Analysis of:Silver Lake and TPGN Complete Acquisition of Sabre Holdings | news.morningstar.com

All four GDS companies are now operating on a similar playing field, all owned by private equity companies.

Cost cutting and surfacing operating efficiencies is generally the order of the day for the companies purchased by private equity firms. 

The industry is watching with a careful eye to see the impact of TPG and Silver Lake's purchase of the Sabre Group.

Chris LinPresidentQilin, Inc

More Chinese Visas Will Produce More Chinese Flights for U.S. Carriers

February 15, 2007

Analysis of:U.S. Seeks More China Flights | www.thestreet.com

Absent any concession from the U.S. negotiators, China is unlikely to expand the number of U.S. carrier flights to China any faster than the currently agreed additional daily flight for each of the next three years.

While the market between the U.S. and China remains weighted towards American citizens both for business as well as leisure travel, modest liberalization of visa policy by the U.S. would not only fill most of the empty seats on Chinese airlines which already fly to the U.S. but would also generate enough additional demand to justify not one but two daily flights beginning next year for at least three years.

Chris LinPresidentQilin, Inc

Loss of Simplicity May Undermine Results

February 12, 2007

Analysis of:World's first low-cost airline alliance | www.smh.com.au

JetBlue's alliance with Aer Lingus certainly broadens the reach of both carriers, but will also place pressure on their low cost business models.

Similar combinations are certain to follow and will place additional pressure on the same yields for economy class travellers that many network carriers had hoped to utilize to cover their higher costs of operation.

These alliances are not expected to significantly divert business travellers from network carriers due to the pervasive influence of frequent flyer programs and corporate travel cobtracts.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

GDS - and then there were three.......Travelport and Worldspan to merge

December 7, 2006

Analysis of:Travelport Ltd. and Worldspan, L.P. to Merge to Create Leading Travel Solutions Company | www.prnewswire.com

On the B2B side, this will make the combined entity the #1 player in the global GDS space, based on both revenues and billable bookings, the traditional measure of success in the GDS world.  Once the merger is approved by regulatory authorities, the combined entity will have 63,000 travel agency locations and will service over 750 travel suppliers.

When the merger is final, it will put Sabre in the #2 spot in the US for the first time in its nearly 30 year company history and will knock Amadeus out of its #1 global spot.

Travelport also owns Gullivers Travel, Orbitz, eBookers, Trust/Wizcom, aiRes and Cheaptickets and provides IT services to United Airlines.  Worldspan powers Expedia, Priceline and Orbitz and provides airline IT services to Northwest and Delta.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

BCD selects Farelogix for connectivity to airlines

November 17, 2006

Analysis of:Farelogix Hooks Up BCD With Any Inventory’ Access | www.travelbizbuzz.com

For over a quarter of a century, travel agencies have used the Global Distribution Systems (GDS), including Sabre, Worldspan, Galileo and Amadeus for access to airline inventory.

BCD is the world's 5th largest travel agency, and the 4th largest brick and mortar agency in the US.  They are responsible for $12 billion in global sales and have 12,000 employees.  They previously operated as World Travel BTI.  They are part of one of the largest privately held family owned companies in the world, BCD N.V., a Dutch company.

Farelogix is part of a group known as "GDS New Entrants" or GNE's for short.  They provide connectivity to all four GDS companies, a number of airlines directly and airline consolidators.  Their economics are significantly more appealing to suppliers than the GDS.

Chicke FitzgeraldChief Executive OfficerSOLUTIONZ HOLDINGS

GDS implications of US Air's bid for Delta

November 16, 2006

Analysis of:US Airways offers to buy Delta for $8 billion | ca.today.reuters.com

Yesterday's hostile bid by USAir for Delta has significant implications on the GDS business. 

Today USAir uses the Sabre system as it's inventory and operational system.  Delta has its own system, Deltamatic, which is hosted and operated by Worldspan. 

Should USAir succeed in its bid for Delta, Worldspan will lose yet another customer, as USAir has stated its intention to migrate the reservations system to a single environment (which would no doubt be Sabre).

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