Week in Review

Business travel is back, but the perks are not according to a USA Today article. GBTA’s Mike McCormick was interviewed for the article saying the growth in business travel comes back to that overall feeling of corporate confidence and seeing a return from putting business travelers on the road. He added that travelers are packing more into each business trip and seeing greater productivity than ever before and that business travel spending is done with a specific business purpose in mind.

AP writer Scott Mayerowitz talked about the surge in popularity of Uber for business travelers and talked with Mike McCormick about the concerns from the employers on new services like this when it comes to safety and liability.

The Consumerist reports that Visa plans to breakdown airline fees separately on statements, so going forward whether it is bag fees, WiFi fees, seat upgrade fees or something else, it will all show up as separate charges on your monthly statement.

USA Today reported that nearly half of all airline flights in France were canceled Wednesday after the nation’s air traffic controllers walked off the job on a 48-hour strike. In other news on airlines issues, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, airlines reported 16 tarmac delays of more than three hours on domestic flights and eight tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights in February.

In more positives news here are 5 new airline policies that will actually make flying better in 2015 according to USA Today, along with a magical sounding airport in Japan’s Osaka Bay that reportedly has an ongoing eleven year streak of reuniting every traveler with every piece of checked luggage.

TSA is boosting its marketing efforts around PreCheck showing the successful program is likely sticking around for the foreseeable future, but they are making the eligibility rules tighter and frequent fliers shouldn’t expect to get randomly selected to try out the express lane anymore, according to Associations Now.

GBTA announced its first ever Media Day this week to be held at GBTA Convention 2015. Expect announcements throughout the day from top travel companies around the world setting the stage for our industry during the remainder of 2015 and as we head into 2016. GBTA also recently hosted its third annual successful Rio Energy, Resource and Marine Symposium in Brazil.

NDTV reports that China has plans to build a high-speed rail link with Nepal through Mount Everest. No rail link between the two countries currently exists, so if this becomes a reality bilateral trade, especially in agricultural products, will get a strong boost, along with tourism.

Mobile Industry Review continues its series on mobile technology revolutionizing our lives with a story on how smartphones and mobile technology are changing every aspect of travel.

Finally, the Huffington Post reveals the 10 most high-tech airports in the U.S.