Traveling Blog: JetBlue CEO Talks Fees + Travel Agent Survival Secrets + Emirates' Trump Rebound

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September 10, 2018

Editor's Note

For months, we've been hearing about how bad rising fuel prices have been for the airlines. Profit forecasts are being slashed as analysts predict prices could end this year 25 percent higher than in 2017.

But we wonder if fuel costs are sometimes the guise used by airlines to put in place things that may not be so bad for the bottom line. Take, for example, the interview posted below by Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers with Robin Hayes. The JetBlue CEO talks about the drag of rising fuel prices and says the carrier decided to raise baggage fees because it didn't want to burden travelers by continuing to raise ticket prices. OK. But once fuel prices go back down, and they always do, will those new baggage fees disappear? Not likely. And a fatter revenue stream is born.

— Tom Lowry, Managing Editor

Becoming People-Centric: Why Business Travel Needs to Change

Take a look back at Skift Global Forum history with us! We're amazed by our growth each year. Though we started with just 250 attendees in 2014, we'll welcome 1,100+ industry trailblazers to our fifth annual conference in less than three weeks!

JetBlue CEO's Rationale on Higher Bag Fees: 'We Hate Increasing Fares'

JetBlue took criticism for moving to raise bag fees first. But the airline's CEO, Robin Hayes, made clear that customers who plan in advance will keep getting to pay the old rate.

Hotelbeds Consolidates Travel Agency Business Under One Brand

After two blockbuster deals, change was to be expected. If travel agents end up getting more choice and better technology, they won't have much to get upset about.

Skift Global Forum Preview: Why the Internet Didn't Kill Off Travel Agents

The travel agent still exists for a reason. Despite having the option, plenty of people don't want to do it on their own, and are happy to get someone else to make plans – even if it costs more.

Emirates May Resume U.S. Growth as Business Recovers From Trump Policies

Folks in Pittsburgh would probably love a nonstop flight to Dubai. But will they get it? It seems unlikely, even if Emirates CEO Tim Clark said the airline would consider flights from smaller U.S. cities.

Storied Tour Operator Cox & Kings Still Smoothing Out Travel's Rough Edges

Longevity doesn't automatically mean success. Cox & Kings has had to adapt to the needs of 21st-century tourists and the ever-changing travel market. That it's still around after 260 years is testament to its ability to reinvent itself.

Tour Booking Startup Evaneos Raises $80 Million

Overtourism is a struggle facing many destinations. Companies like Evaneos, which connects travelers with off-the-beaten-track tours and activities, may go some way to addressing the issue.

Vacation rental metasearch isn't necessarily ahead of its time, although it certainly isn't easy given the complexity of the inventory and the required backend technology. Still, any company needs to execute to make a go of it, and that appears to have been a quality in short supply at Tripping.

Original Disruptor Southwest Airlines Survives on Ruthless Business Savvy

Southwest has survived by being different. That gets harder, but the lessons of its past success may help define its legacy. The Texas-based airline is one of the subjects in Skift's recent sixth anniversary book, For the Long Haul, Lessons on Business Longevity, whose chapters we are excerpting for you here.

U.S. Hotel Industry Commits to Giving Panic Buttons to Workers

Implementation of panic buttons, or employee safety devices, for hotel employees is a good start, but it should just be the beginning of the much broader measures the entire global hospitality industry should take to ensure the safety of every single person who walks through its doors.

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