Travel Technology News.

Feb 4, 2008

Mock disaster drill tests DHS defenses against hackers. DHS recently conducted a drill involving a series of mock disasters to test its defenses against hackers. The list of fictional catastrophes included the disruption of airport control towers in Philadelphia and Chicago and bloggers revealing the location of rail cars with hazardous materials. "They point out where your expectations of your capabilities may be overstated," DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said. "They may reveal to you things you haven't thought about. It's a good way of testing that you're going to do the job the way you think you were." Jan 31, 2008

TSA solicits feedback from travelers in new blog. The TSA has launched a new blog designed to get feedback on airport security from travelers. The TSA says it will incorporate the feedback from the blog, at http://www.tsa.gov/blog, into the checkpoint process. Jan 31, 2008

Blogs Becoming Regular Reading for Business Travelers. It may be a little late to the game, but business travel is now the subject of a variety of blogs. In the last two years, companies in the travel business including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have introduced blogs to promote their products and brand images, as have business travelers who want to narrate experiences and share complaints. Jan 29, 2008

AirTran Airways, ForGetaway.com

AirTran Airways has signed a multi-year deal to become the official airline of ForGetaway.com, a Web site that lists vacation home rentals. Financial terms were not disclosed. ForGetaway.com is part of The Weather Channel Interactive, Atlanta, which includes Weather.com and other online destinations that attract more than 35 million unique users a month, per Nielsen/NetRatings, New York. A link to the Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran will be featured on every page at ForGetway.com, where visitors can search from among 90,000 rentals by price, location, date and amenities. Jan 31, 2008

American Airlines

American won't scale back technology budget significantly. American Airlines will not make large cuts to its technology budget, despite the current downturn in the economy, American Chief Information Officer Monte Ford said. He noted that technology remains "the best lever" for making employees more productive, increasing fuel efficiency, and making better use of the fleet. Jan 28, 2008

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines will join the roster of carriers offering live television and wireless connectivity inflight, announcing yesterday an agreement with JetBlue Airways subsidiary LiveTV to provide 36 channels of DirecTV at "every seat" of CO's 737NGs and 757-300s and inflight Wi-Fi services beginning in January 2009. First class customers will receive the television service free while economy passengers will be charged $6. Wi-Fi service featuring e-mail and instant messaging will be free and is similar to the BetaBlue product debuted by JetBlue last month. Jan 30, 2008

Continental Airlines

Continental To Offer Live TV, Email On Domestic Flights. Continental Airlines said on Tuesday it will offer live television and email service on domestic US flights, starting in 2009. With the economy slowing, US carriers have stepped up efforts to offer better in-flight services in order to attract higher-paying passengers and boost revenue. Southwest Airlines last week said it plans to start testing satellite-based Internet service this summer. Jan 29, 2008

Cosmic Air, Radixx International

Radixx International said Cosmic Air of Nepal selected its reservations and distribution management technology Radixx Air Enterprise Edition. Jan 30, 2008

Emirates SkyCargo

Emirates SkyCargo and Dubai Customs signed an MOU to explore greater use of electronic correspondence in transactions between the airline and the agency and also in dealings with other supply chain partners. In addition, the initiative will allow importers and exporters to perform 51 customs transactions electronically without having to visit customs centers physically. IATA is making a strong push for airlines to minimize the volume of paper associated with air cargo shipments and move toward "e-freight," or electronic transfers of information similar to the use of e-tickets on the passenger side of the business. Emirates Divisional Senior VP-Cargo Ram Menen said the carrier has "long been an advocate of the e-freight movement and [is] delighted that such a progressive program has been initiated in Dubai. Such an initiative, when fully implemented, will allow a more fluid flow of legitimate goods through the air and sea borders, thus eliminating potential bottlenecks." Jan 29, 2008

Hahn Air

Hahn Air signed interline e-ticketing agreements with Georgian Airways, Carpatair, Meridiana, Vladivostok Air, KrasAir, Domodedovo Airlines and Samara Airlines, bringing to 73 the number of carriers with which it interlines. Jan 29, 2008

Microsoft, Yahoo, Google

Microsoft Eyes Yahoo to Topple Google. Unable to topple Google Inc. on its own, Microsoft Corp. is trying to force crippled rival Yahoo Inc. into a shotgun marriage, with a wager worth nearly $42 billion that the two companies together will have a better chance of tackling the Internet search leader. Microsoft's audacious attempt to buy Yahoo, spelled out in an unsolicited offer announced Friday, shows just how much Google threatens the world's largest software maker's grip on how people interact with computers. For Yahoo, the bid represents another painful reminder of how missed opportunities and mismanagement combined to open the door for Google to supplant it as the Internet's main gateway, decimating its stock price in the process. Feb 3, 2008

Priceline.com, Travelport

Priceline.com Signs Long-Term Agreement with Travelport. Priceline.com and Travelport announced a new long-term agreement under which Priceline will process reservations through Travelport's Worldspan GDS. "Worldspan has been a partner since our launch 10 years ago, providing Priceline.com suppliers and customers with consistent round-the-clock access to inventories and fares," said Chris Soder, the website's president, North American travel. "This new agreement demonstrates the value Priceline.com places in the cost-effective, reliable and broad-based GDS solutions that Travelport provides to its clients around the world," said Kevin Mooney, chief commercial officer of Travelport GDS. Jan 31, 2008

Skyways

GuestLogix will deploy its Mobile Virtual Store onboard solution across the fleet of Sweden's Skyways under a multiyear agreement. Technology features wireless POS devices and application service to streamline onboard sales transactions. Klarago AB assisted in the deal. Jan 31, 2008

ZZ

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