GBTA Urges Call for Transparency Between Airlines and Business Travel Industry On Faring Issues

Alexandria, VA (April 4, 2016) – The buyer members of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) were frustrated with the marketplace news that United, Delta and American all changed fare structures on multi-city trips without any advance communication to corporate travel managers. This represents a major faring change requiring transparency throughout the buyer community.

GBTA has been in active contact with our members and committee leadership, as well as members of Congress. While recent airline statements indicate that these changes were the result of unintended consequences of new combinable fare restrictions, we will now survey our members to verify that the issue has been resolved to their satisfaction.

In today’s travel ecosystem, active communication is necessary and vital. To that end, GBTA believes there should be full transparency with regard to any changes before and during the travel experience, including new supplier policies or travel process time and delays. Both business travelers and travel buyers should have access to clear information across the spectrum as to how prices are determined, how to deal with delays, cancellation policies and how to lodge complaints.

Going forward, GBTA will continue to work with the airlines, our members and other organizations to ensure buyer voices are heard on key issues related to transparency and competition.

CONTACT: Colleen Gallagher, +1 703-236-1133, cgallagher@gbta.org

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA and the GBTA Foundation deliver world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, gbta.org