Visionary CEOs Take Center Stage to Discuss Future of Travel

GBTA kicked off the second day of Convention with CBS’ Travel Editor Peter Greenberg interviewing Doug Parker, CEO, American Airlines Group and American Airlines.

Parker discussed American Airlines’ outstanding second quarter earnings – the best second quarter earnings in the airline’s history. “We couldn’t be happier with the results,” he said. “Through the merger we built a route network that is the best in the world and customers are enjoying our product.”

He also talked about the inherent challenges with integrating two airlines saying, “Our goal is to integrate first and then innovate. It is a slow process but worth the time in order to do it right.” Parker echoed the opinion of other airline CEOs who have spoken over the past two days when he called for a national aviation policy.

Following Parker, Steve Singh, CEO of Concur spoke to attendees about his views on the future of travel, the concept of the perfect trip and the importance of working together as an industry.

When talking about how to create the perfect trip, Singh said it will take the industry coming together as a community working together on an open platform that relies on the ingenuity of others. With or without us it’s going to happen, because the world won’t wait for us, he said.

“Innovation of singular companies can be inspiring but it is nothing compared to innovation of communities,” Singh added.

Attendees then headed off to hear Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter who was the afternoon’s featured speaker.