Articles tagged “iata”

Legacy carriers have a responsibility to lead the way on diversity and inclusion for women, but it might be the smaller, more nimble airlines that make faster progress.

No destination gets away uncriticized for imposing a tax on tourists. Japan is no exception, especially since the destination is loved by millions of tourists and it isn’t clear-cut why they are being taxed. But it's unlikely tourists will say sayonara to Japan, say operators.

New technologies, practices, and vendors are emerging to help airlines distribute their airfares. The new landscape is complex. But Air Canada's latest effort reveals at least one part of the emerging picture.

Accountants at Emirates, British Airways, and South African Airways must be breathing a sigh of relief. A combination of economic carrots and airline sticks — smoothed over by IATA diplomacy — has helped international carriers recoup more than $500 million in blocked funds from African governments since the start of 2018.

Care to buy a plane ticket without needing a credit card? Soon a few airlines will test enabling air travelers to pay for their tickets by taking payments directly from consumer accounts. Three cheers for testing innovations.

IATA, a global airline industry trade group, would prefer politicians and regulators not meddle too much with the commercial decisions of airlines. That's a fine position, but perhaps a certain amount of regulation is OK. Consumers should be protected.

If fuel prices rise considerably, airfares will need to increase as well, so this would be bad for consumers. But investors might cheer.

Hotels used to be nearly the only game in town for accommodations during high-demand occasions, and they could charge whatever the market would bear. They can still charge guests whatever the market will bear but the question is whether companies such as Airbnb are changing the market and pricing dynamics.

Most airline CEOs have avoided harshly criticizing the U.S. and UK electronics bans. That makes sense, because airlines do not want to anger their security regulators. But IATA's CEO has no such concerns, so he can speak more honestly.

In most cases, airlines have the technology to give passengers more control over their journey. Carriers should take advantage of this, and they should start by making their mobile apps a lot more useful than they are today.