Southwest Airlines and Amadeus announce that the carrier’s complete offer for business travel is now available through the Amadeus Travel Platform.
The move comes at a time when business travelers need the highest levels of service as they begin to travel again. Southwest’s partnership with Amadeus will allow Corporate Travel Buyers, Travel Management Companies, and business travel decision makers to easily book and service reservations on the world’s largest distribution system.
The announcement further expands the partnership between Southwest and Amadeus after the airline migrated its international and domestic passenger services to the Amadeus Altéa Solution in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Since the Amadeus Travel Platform and Altéa are hosted on the same system, Corporate Travel Advisors will benefit from an unparalleled experience, unique to Amadeus, with Single Passenger Name Record (PNR) accuracy and visibility. This means instant and simple access to all changes in a customer’s journey, including changes made by the airline, such as scheduled and voluntary changes and airport disruptions.
Additionally, Travel Advisors will have access to real-time, accurate flight information, including arrivals, delays and diversions, so they can deliver excellent customer service during the booking process and throughout the whole journey. In the case of unexpected schedule changes, Amadeus-connected Travel Advisors can rest assured knowing their corporate customers will be automatically re-booked with instant special service requests – a critical functionality for business travelers, especially those returning to the air as COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted. Also important to business travelers will be real-time frequent flyer validation. These examples of post-booking servicing capabilities will be crucial in helping bring back traveler confidence.
“With the Amadeus Travel Platform, we’re able to bring our iconic low fares, consumer-friendly policies, and world class hospitality to one of the world’s largest global distribution systems business travel decision makers depend on,” said Andrew Watterson, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Southwest.
“By joining with Amadeus, we’re continuing our mission of removing friction for corporate travel managers and travel management companies to make it easier and hassle-free to book and manage travel on Southwest Airlines.”
The Amadeus Travel Platform gives Southwest Airlines further access to technology and innovation that will set the carrier apart from its competitors. Amadeus has consistently invested 15% to 18% of its revenues in research and development, ultimately benefitting customers like Southwest, and it is the only travel technology company whose distribution system has migrated completely off legacy mainframe technology and onto open, cloud-based systems.
“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Southwest Airlines and support the growth of Southwest Business, especially as business travelers return to the skies,” said Decius Valmorbida, President, Travel Unit, Amadeus.
“We firmly believe in the elevated level of service our shared business customers will gain from the unique collection of benefits provided by the Amadeus Travel Platform and Altéa, and we look forward to collaborating on a path to recovery for the travel industry.”
By gaining access to the Amadeus Travel Platform, Southwest content is now available to Travel Management Companies with points of sale in the United States.
