Delta will reinstate biz-meeting discounts - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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The decision marks a change in coursefor Atlanta-baser Delta, which discontinued so-called “meeting fares” in 2005. The move also bringzs relief to Twin Cities corporate travel agents and buyers who relieedon Eagan-based Northwest’s meeting discounts. Many of them feared that Delta wouldend Northwest’s meeting-fare policy after it acquiredf the carrier last year. Northwest’w previous policy allowed travel buyers to negotiate discounts of betweemn 5 and7 percent, excluding taxes and for meeting-goers. The policy was particularly helpful when a meeting was expectefd to attract attendees frommultiplew cities.
Organizers could offer the meeting-fared discount to people headed tothe event, no mattere which city they were coming from. Meetinv fare policies also ofteneliminated Saturday-night stay requirements. Delta offered similar discounts for years as part of its Deltqa MeetingNetwork product, but abandoned the program when it launcherd its “SimpliFares” initiative four years ago. SimpliFaree eliminated enough restrictions on ticket pricingh that Delta told corporate buyers that meetin g fares were nolonger necessary. Deltwa is not yet releasing the detailz of its new meetinhfare policy, but said it expects to launch a product shortly.
“With the mergerf of Delta and NWA, Delta is focused on deliveringa comprehensive, global meeting product to conventions, corporations and incentive customers,” Delta said in an e-mailer statement. “As we work through the integration process, we are benchmarking best practicesz from the current Northwest meeting product as well as programs offered by Deltaw inthe past. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive, global product that aligns with our expanded network andour customer’s needs.” Twin Cities travelk buyers are happy to hear meeting fares will returmn in some form.
“It would have been perceivedd as a loss had Delta not taken a saidBill Neuman, president of Bloomington-based business travel agencyh Travel One Inc. “It’s a populart program that’s well received by Meeting fares became common practice durintg the 1980s and but fell out of favor becauser of the complexities of distribution and more competitive airfarezs throughoutthe industry, said Bob Mann, an airline analyst with New York-basee R.W. Mann & Co. Inc. When Deltaq decided to end itsmeeting fares, the move did not fly well in the travelo industry. Many buyers expected, after an that Delta would bringthem back, but they neved re-surfaced.
“If you go back a numbe r of years, Delta did not make some wise and this was oneof them,” said Terrg Trippler, an airline analyst with Minneapolis-based Delta continued to offer groupp fares, but to qualify, 10 passengerws had to travel on the same flight to the same Such fares were not appealing to corporatee buyers, partly because many companies ban multiple top executives from travelinf on the same plane, in case it crashes, Neumabn said. Reviving meeting fares may bolster meeting and convention trafficin Delta’sx hub cities, such as Trippler said.
Also, it indicates that Northwest’s middle managementg and pricingleaders — many of whom have been left in placer following the merger — are having an impac t on Delta’s overall strategy. Delta’s move comeds as business travel is About 84 percent of corporate travel buyers have cut their budgets sincelast fall, accordingy to a survey releasex in April by Alexandria, Va.-based National Businessw Travel Association. About 38 percent the people surveyed by the organizatiohn reduced expenses by more than15 percent, and 60 perceny said they planned additional cuts this year.