Airline Business Magazine Americas Editor David Field says reports of the
demise of the network carriers may be premature. As the old line airlines
adapt to today’s competitive low-cost business model, Field said: “Don’t
count out the dinosaurs yet; old fashioned airlines like Delta and United
have been dismissed as unable to change their ways and doomed to be eaten
up by the new breed of low-fare, low-cost newcomers like JetBlue. But the
old beasts have life in them yet and they are fighting back.”
How they fight back and whether they succeed may take a crystal ball and a
stomach for turbulence! Field will further define and defend his position
during a keynote address at the UATP Airline Distribution Conference in
San Francisco 1 April.

“The big guys have to fight back: the low-fare competition is reaching new
heights. Now up to almost one-fourth of the US market—from just 15% in
the year 2000—the low-fare guys are expanding into a new offering:
long- distance and cross-country flights,” Field added.

Field brings 22 years as an aviation journalist. He specializes in
covering safety, frequent flier and consumer issues as well as labor and
financial aspects of airlines and airports. He covered the crash of TWA
Flight 800 and the airline service crisis of 2000.

UATP is a global travel payment network. UATP accounts are actively issued
by 15 member airlines and accepted as a form of payment for corporate
business travel by more than 200 airlines worldwide. Airlines currently
issuing UATP accounts include Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, Alitalia,
American Airlines , Austrian Airlines, British Airways , Continental
Airlines , Delta Air Lines , Japan Airlines , KLM Royal Dutch Airlines,
Lufthansa German Airlines, Qantas Airways, Ltd., Scandinavian Airlines
System, United Airlines (OTC Bulletin Board: UALAQ) and US Airways . For
more information, visit uatp.com.

The UATP 2004 annual conference will be held at the Sheraton Fisherman’s
Wharf in San Francisco from March 30 through April 1. To register, and for
further information about the conference, visit
http://www.uatp.com/info/frame_infoSearch.html.
——-