Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is trying to lure small and medium businesses into its travel system as the airline industry faces another rough patch.
Those types of systems are essential for airlines because corporate travel managers tend to use them first to book travel.
Harvey said Southwest has pumped up its corporate sales team to about 250 people from just 20 a few years ago. But, he said, small and medium businesses are often buying tickets ad hoc, using airline websites or third-party sites. “We don’t necessarily have dedicated account managers assigned to some of those small businesses,” Harvey said.
Southwest has topped out the new referral program at 125,000 reward points, which would be worth about $1,875,Those miles don’t go as far as they used to since Southwest’s mile redemptions are based on prices and airfares have spiked in recent months with high demand. “Most of these companies they don’t have big international travel needs, it’s more domestic,” Harvey said. “When you think about our point-to-point network, it’s one of our points of strength across the country.”. Kyle Arnold is the aviation writer for The Dallas Morning News, covering airlines, air travel and the aerospace industry. He previously worked as a business journalist for the Orlando Sentinel, Tulsa World and The Monitor in McAllen. He is a University of Washington graduate.
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