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Article Excerpt
The SkyTeam airline alliance and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands last week said they had agreed to a framework for the alliance's first global corporate contract. Covering 25 countries and roughly 40 percent of Philips' more than $200 million global airline spend, the deal is scheduled to take effect Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines--two SkyTeam members--have progressed on integrating their corporate sales platforms. Since finalizing their cross-border merger last year, the two carriers combined global corporate sales departments, began unifying global fares and account management systems, launched new customer relationship management initiatives and signed new global deals with most large travel management companies.
SkyTeam in August announced its readiness to negotiate global contracts with large corporate clients (BTN, Sept. 5), though Philips last November already had begun to outline plans for a comprehensive agreement with the alliance.
The new arrangement includes Air France, Continental, CSA Czech, Delta, KLM, Korean and Northwest airlines. The deal follows and augments an earlier and less substantial relationship the electronics giant established with the Star Alliance.
Benefits of the SkyTeam deal include incremental cost savings, traveler recognition, harmonized pricing, a single point of entry, combined performance reporting and transparent faring and contract structure.
"We are getting away from being purely driven by price to have value added to the entire program. That is difficult in the hectic environment of travel and airlines," said Peter Sijbers, Philips' global commodity manager. "We will commit to market share if you...
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