ACTE Press Release

Immediate Release!

International Air Transport Association (IATA) plans to withdraw RP1778 for consideration

(Alexandria, Va. USA, January 29, 2001) The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) announced today that it had received communication from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that it plans to withdraw RP1778 for consideration from the US Department of Transportation. RP1778 is the global proposal put forward by IATA to include corporate client identification codes (CCIS) on the electronic airline reservation record of each business traveler for the purpose of generating reports to the airlines on corporate traveler usage. "This decision was based on input gathered at an ACTE Executive Forum event in New York City on January 16, 2001," said IATA assistant director, Mike Muller.

Many corporate travel managers voiced opposition to the proposal at the ACTE event with concerns about privacy and security of corporate data. Said Vivendi Universal global travel director, Earl Foster, "Collecting my company's travel data is my job as a corporate travel director. That is my company's data and is only provided to those whom my company has a relationship." Other corporate travel manager's expressed concerns on being uninformed about the processes that IATA intended to use for collection and distribution of business traveler data. Dan Baillie, travel manager for Block Drug said, "I find it hard to imagine that any single organization will be able to process all corporate clients in a timely and efficient manner. I'd guess there are many corporate clients all over the world-and that their partnership agreements do change, so how can this process be managed so that it is kept current?"

Ron Wagner, president of ACTE, said, "As both the voice and ear of the global business travel industry, ACTE heard from members that there was much confusion over this issue. To allow ACTE membership and the industry to fully understand the IATA proposal so they could make informed decisions, we invited Mike to the ACTE Executive Forum event in New York City." The message that the global business travel industry is in need of better education on this issue was not lost on IATA. In reporting back to the CCIS committee following the Executive Forum event Mike Muller said, "The vast majority of agents and corporates do not know enough about what is being proposed through RP1778 an d have difficulty finding information on this subject."

IATA will solicit further input from the business travel industry at an ACTE Executive Forum scheduled for May 3, 2001 in London, and plans to modify RP 1778 with the goal of developing an agreement that will be more globally accepted by the corporate travel industry.

Founded in 1988, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives is the only organization wholly dedicated to the science of business travel management with an international constituency. ACTE membership totals more than 2,400, including entities in Asia/Pacific, Europe, Canada, South Africa and the United States. The organization is headquartered in Alexandria, Va., and its web site is www.acte.org.