Dennis Schaal Archives

Dennis Schaal is Skift’s Founding Editor and Executive Editor. Dennis has been a reporter focusing on online travel and short-term rentals for more than two decades at Skift, Tnooz, USA Today, and Travel Weekly. He is well-known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at Skift events, including with the CEOs and top execs of Expedia, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, and more.

Airlines

Norwegian Air Defends Its Move to Dublin For Long-Haul Flights

Norwegian is getting everything into place for the beginning of its "shuttle" service into the U.S., and it's hard to imagine that the DOT would ban its entry outright despite objections from U.S. airlines and unions.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

Expedia CFO: We’re Looking For a Few More Travelocity-Like Deals

Was the Expedia-Travelocity deal just a harbinger of things to come? Expedia thinks so and is looking for additional online travel agency partners who would consider outsourcing the hard stuff to Expedia.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

SkiftX

TripAdvisor Spent $34.8 Million on 6 Acquisitions in 2013

TripAdvisor has plenty of cash on hand, but if it is true to historical form, it will likely be seeking to continue making smallish acquisitions of struggling travel startups, such as it did with Oyster.com, on the cheap in 2014.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

House Transportation Committee Pushes Bill To Ban Phone Calls on Flights

It would seem prudent to at least let the airlines make a decision on the wisdom of in-flight phone calls rather than unilaterally banning them. A ban could hurt airlines competitively among business travelers as some international airlines allow calls.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

Virgin America Debuts Onboard Mobile Social Network With Gogo

There will be a lot of conscientious objectors among passengers who don't want to be bothered with networking when flying, but social media fans will love the ability to keep getting social during the flight, and other airlines will follow Virgin America's lead.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

How Expedia Uses Bloggers to Boost Its SEO Prowess

Expedia has been the most aggressive big travel band in corralling travel bloggers, and although their proselytizing can at times be clumsy, it has mostly been very effective.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

Virgin Atlantic Tests Wearable Tech for Concierge Service

Wearables, tablets or both? Which will end up providing more robust and personalized service for passengers? Either way, customer service for passengers, whether at the departure airport, onboard or at the destination, will undoubtedly undergo a revolution in the not-so-distant future.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Airlines

Pilots Union Says There Wouldn’t Be a Pilot Shortage if Pay Was Higher

You say tomatoe and I say tomahto. Whether ALPA wants to admit there is a pilot shortage or merely cast it as a question of attractive pay scales, the end result is that there aren't enough qualified pilots to fill job openings at U.S. regional and major airlines.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

Expedia Is in No Hurry to Start Selling Vacation Rentals From HomeAway

Want to gauge Expedia's priorities? It implemented its hotel partnership with Travelocity in a hurry in December. But when it comes to rolling out HomeAway's vacation rentals, Expedia says it will get around to deciding how to proceed in the second half of 2014.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago

Online Travel

Expedia Has Strong Q4 Thanks to its New Metasearch Business and Increased Bookings

Expedia's hotel business has momentum, and the acquisition of Trivago and its strategic marketing agreement with Travelocity are fueling the trend.

Dennis Schaal | 12 years ago