American Airlines Focuses on Smaller Cities and Loyalty Programs

American Airlines is changing its strategy. The company is turning to smaller U.S. cities and its loyalty program to boost revenue, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi. American Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja cited the Sun Belt region as a location the carrier is focusing on. The region has accounted for 75% of U.S. population growth in the past decade, according to U.S. Census data. American’s focus on smaller U.S. cities lies in contrast to rivals like Delta and United, which have chosen to emphasize capacity across long-haul international routes. American is also looking to increase membership in its frequent-flier program. Roughly 65% of the company’s revenue came from members of its AAdvantage program. Next, Airbnb is poised to unveil a new series of non-core services as part of its quest to become a “super brand for travel,” reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal. Airbnb is looking to expand co-hosting, a service some homeowners use to manage their listings if they don’t want to do it themselves or don’t live locally. Chief Financial Officer Ellie Mertz also said Airbnb is studying how to use artificial intelligence to solve both guest and host issues. Schaal notes Airbnb hosts have complained at times about the quality of support coming from the company. Airbnb is planning to resurrect its dormant experiences product. However, Mertz didn’t provide any details about what it might include. Finally, Turkish Airlines has recently launched service to Australia, a development that could concern Qantas, writes Airlines Editor Gordon Smith. Smith notes that Turkish Airlines’ three times a week service via Singapore isn’t a major threat to Qantas in itself. But he writes the Singapore aspect of the new Turkish Airlines route treads on Qantas’ toes. It allows the airlines to drop off and pick up passengers in Singapore when flying between Istanbul and Australia. The Australian government approved an increase in the number of weekly services to and from Turkey last December.