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Article Excerpt
Emboldened by detailed and timely data on contract performance and driven by economic necessity, the nation's largest airlines are taking a tougher stance in their dealings with corporate clients. In addition to withholding discounts on lower bucket fares and cutting out certain soft-dollar perks, carriers more than ever are being selective about corporate bids, holding down discount levels, modifying contracts midstream and occasionally canceling contracts outright.
These tactics are not new to corporate travel negotiators but nowadays have more teeth behind them. Financially troubled carriers are less likely to give favorable deals based solely on long-term relationships. Under fiscal and competitive duress, they are more likely to practice what they have been preaching for years. Buyers, however, can stand firm, provided they can maintain control over corporate travel purchasing patterns, manage multiple contract terms and carefully use low-cost alternatives.
Using such systems as those furnished by Prism Group for data aggregation and contract modeling for more than one year, four of the six top airlines now have the ammunition to hold clients accountable. Prism said it is processing data on more than 5,200 companies on behalf of the airlines.
"What...
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