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Expedia has just released its Airplane Etiquette report that details which flight habits are the most infuriating to other passengers. Tony Spitz has the details.
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BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — Expedia Group Inc. boosted fourth-quarter revenue by selling more hotel rooms and airline tickets, but write-downs pushed profit down 69 percent, to $17 million.

The results still beat expectations for the online travel agency.

The shares jumped $9.13, or 7 percent, to $137 in extended trading Thursday after losing a penny in the regular session. At Thursday’s close, the stock had gained 13.5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard Poor’s 500 index rose nearly 9 percent.

Expedia said that fourth-quarter adjusted profit was $1.18 per share, topping the $1.07 average forecast of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $2.56 billion. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.54 billion.

About two-thirds of Expedia sales come from booking lodging on sites including Hotels.com, and that revenue grew 10 percent. Growth in the vacation-rental segment HomeAway — a competitor to Airbnb — slowed to 20 percent in the fourth quarter but grew 29 percent for the full year.

Expedia closed out 2018 by besting Wall Street expectations for revenue while sharply increasing profits and the amount people are spending on the platform.

Revenue: Expedia reported $2.56 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, bringing the 2018 total to $11.2 billion. Those figures just beat analyst expectations and represent growth of 10 and 12 percent respectively.

Profits: Expedia posted net profits of $191 million in the fourth quarter, or $1.24 per share, an increase of 45 percent over a year ago, well ahead of analyst expectations of $1.08 per share. For the year, Expedia brought in $902 million in net profits, up 33 percent over 2017.

Gross bookings: This figure is an important one for Expedia as it represents the total amount spent by customers booking rooms, flights and other travel across Expedia’s brands. In the fourth quarter, gross bookings rose 11 percent year-over-year to $21.96 billion. For all of 2018, gross bookings were $99.73 billion, a 13 percent rise over 2017.

Expedia stock is up slightly in after-hours trading.

Expedia’s latest financial report comes the same week that a federal court in New York unsealed a lawsuit brought by the travel giant against United Airlines. The lawsuit alleges United is locking Expedia out of fare data as part of a contract dispute.

If the dispute continues, Expedia said in the suit that it will no longer be able to offer United Flights on its platforms starting Sept. 30. Expedia said in the lawsuit that customers have already reserved more than 2,000 seats on United flights departing after Sept. 30.

Expedia is alleging breach of contract and asking the court to bar United from withholding fare data.

Other Highlights

• Expedia now has more than 1 million lodging properties on its platform, with 200,000 of those added in 2018 alone. HomeAway, the Airbnb competitor that Expedia acquired in 2015 for $3.9 billion, is responsible for 370,000 of those 1 million total properties on the platform.
• Expedia has a big year ahead as it gets set to move into a new Seattle waterfront headquarters. Set to open this fall, the campus has room for 5,000 people, giving it some growth potential beyond its current 4,500-person workforce. Expedia says the new campus will feature “biophilic design,” which involves connecting people and nature to increase physical and mental well-being through views of the water, mountains and open office spaces with plenty of natural light.

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — GoJet is pleased to announce that United Airlines has selected it to fly Bombardier’s new model aircraft, the CRJ550.  GoJet and United Airlines have executed a letter of agreement for a deal to operate these aircraft for 10 years, subject to agreement on final terms and conditions.  The CRJ550 is a new aircraft type within Bombardier’s successful CRJ family of equipment and will revolutionize the customer experience in the 50-seat regional marketplace, while also offering many enhancements not available on larger regional jets flying in the marketplace today. 

The new aircraft will feature more First Class seats (10) and Economy Plus seats (20) than many regional jets flying today. Additionally, there are new amenities that are currently unavailable on many of the regional jets in the marketplace, including a convenient beverage and snack station in the First Class cabin and a generous increase in on-board bag storage space eliminating the need for planeside or valet checked bags. The features available on the CRJ550 that are not available on any 50-seat aircraft include a larger cabin which will provide more overall legroom than any 50-seat jet in the United States and Wi-Fi on all aircraft. 

GoJet’s selection as the launch provider of this important premium aircraft underscores United’s confidence in GoJet as a top regional performer.  “Being the world’s leading airline is more than just connecting our customers to hundreds of points around the globe. It’s about providing them with an unparalleled experience and product, a safe and well-maintained aircraft, and a reliable operation,” said Tracy Lee – SVP United Express. “GoJet has a proven track record as a top-performing regional partner, and it’s because of their efforts that we are confident in their future operating this unrivaled new regional product – the CRJ550.”

“We are proud to be the provider chosen to fly this newly launched premium product for United Airlines,” said Richard Leach, President and CEO of GoJet Airlines.  “Being part of a new product launch is very exciting for us and solidifies our importance as a strategic service provider in the regional airline marketplace, while providing long-term stability and growth for our company and our employees.” 

The new ten-year agreement between GoJet and United will go into effect with the introduction of the first CRJ550, with planned entry into service by the summer of 2019. The current target is to have 25 in service by year end and all 50 aircraft in service by summer of 2020.

About GoJet Airlines
GoJet Airlines is a premier regional airline operating as United Express and Delta Connection.  GoJet serves over 5 million passengers annually, with more than 250 daily flights providing service to over 80 destinations.  Headquartered in St. Louis, GoJet has crew bases in Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Raleigh-Durham and St. Louis. 

SOURCE GoJet Airlines

Expedia Group Inc. boosted fourth-quarter revenue by selling more hotel rooms and airline tickets, but write-downs pushed profit down 69 percent, to $17 million.

The results still beat expectations for the online travel agency.

Continue Reading Below

The shares jumped $9.13, or 7 percent, to $137 in extended trading Thursday after losing a penny in the regular session. At Thursday’s close, the stock had gained 13.5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard Poor’s 500 index rose nearly 9 percent.

Expedia said that fourth-quarter adjusted profit was $1.18 per share, topping the $1.07 average forecast of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $2.56 billion. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.54 billion.

About two-thirds of Expedia sales come from booking lodging on sites including Hotels.com, and that revenue grew 10 percent. Growth in the vacation-rental segment HomeAway — a competitor to Airbnb — slowed to 20 percent in the fourth quarter but grew 29 percent for the full year.

Airline revenue rose 18 percent, as Expedia sold more tickets and at higher average prices.

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However, the Bellevue, Washington-based company is locked in a potentially damaging legal fight with a major airline customer.

This week Expedia said that United Airlines is threatening to pull flight information from its sites after a breakdown in talks over a new contract.

Expedia sued United and asked a federal judge to block the airline from cutting Expedia’s access to information about seats and fares. The companies’ current contract expires this fall.

In a heavily redacted complaint, Expedia said it would lose customers for years if United carried through on its threat.

United Airlines spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin said Expedia has refused to take part in “constructive discussions” about a new contract, and United expects its fares won’t be listed on Expedia sites after Sept. 30. She said that because Expedia might not be able to help United ticket holders after that date, United told Expedia it plans to bar Expedia from booking tickets for United flights on or after Oct. 1.

TAMUNING, GUAM—United Airlines is introducing a re-imagined mobile app to customers around the world.

Already a top downloaded airline app for Apple and Android phones, the new app now features a more dynamic experience that updates customers at each step of their travel journey, making it the perfect travel companion. The app includes features customers know and love from the previous version, while adding enhancements that make managing travel easier from booking to landing.  

“Every day we are using technology to improve our customers’ experience and making more information available to our customers at the swipe of a finger,” said Linda Jojo, executive vice president of technology and chief digital officer at United Airlines. “With this updated app, we set out to bring improvements that are meaningful to all our customers, whether they travel every week or only once a year.”

Customers’ favorite features, such as bag tracking, will continue to be available in the updated app, and new highlights include:

A navigation bar that gives customers quick access to some of the most popular tools such as flight status, and some new handy features like My Trips.

A My Trips tab in the navigation bar that allows customers to easily access information about their upcoming trip and stores boarding passes when customers are checked in for their flights. 

An inbox that stores important push notifications United sends customers about their flight, such as if a flight status changes, gate changes and alerts about when boarding for a flight has begun. 

Dynamic boarding times will be updated throughout the app in the event that departure times change to give customers the latest information even when they are not at the gate. This builds on the airline’s recent addition of boarding notifications, which were added when United rolled out its Better Boarding process.

One of the biggest updates to the app comes during the travel period, when the home screen updates to give customers the most helpful information for each step of their travel journey. The home screen will begin to update starting 48 hours before a flight, and will continue updating throughout various phases all the way through arrival at the final destination with the most useful information. For instance, customers connecting will find a screen that allows them to easily access airport maps so they can easily navigate to the next gate. Bringing the most useful information to the forefront will make the entire journey less stressful and more intuitive.

The app also includes an updated design with more engaging content. When a customer does not have an upcoming trip, the app will open to a beautiful destination image to provide travel inspiration. Content on the home screen is also more personalized to each user; for example, customers who recently passed loyalty milestones will be recognized on the home screen, and the app will also celebrate customers on their birthday. 

United’s in-house digital team spent over a year designing and creating this updated app, including eight months during which customers and more than 18,000 employees provided feedback to create the final version that rolls out worldwide today. United issued seven releases during the beta test, making numerous changes based on user feedback. There were more than 13,000 check-ins during the beta test period. The airline will continue soliciting feedback on the app and expects to roll out additional features later this year to further improve and ease travel for our customers.

As a technology leader, United was the first carrier to offer mobile boarding passes and became the first to introduce boarding passes and flight information in its app for partner airlines. Customers can access boarding passes and flight information for flights on United’s Star Alliance partner airlines when flights are booked with connecting travel on United on the same itinerary. The airline also made it easier for customers to search for fare classes available in the app with Expert Mode, a popular feature from united.com.

Last year, United updated its digital platforms including the united.com homepage and entire mobile website to make them more dynamic and personalized.

For more information about updates to the app, visit the United Hub. (PR)

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“This is big news. They are taking direct aim at Delta and its strength with premium travelers,” Harteveldt said.

United will retrofit 21 of its Boeing 767-300ER jets starting in the next several weeks. It will reduce seats from 214 to 167 by shrinking the economy section while going from 30 to 46 business-class seats and adding 22 “premium plus” seats. 

The planes will fly first between United’s hub in Newark, N.J., and London.

The airline also plans to add a few more first-class seats to its Airbus A319 and A320 planes. By year end, it hopes to begin flying new 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 550 jets between Chicago and smaller markets with many business travelers, such as Bentonville, Ark., the home of Walmart. Federal regulators have not yet certified the plane.

Small, 50-seat planes are notoriously cramped and unpopular with many travelers. Nocella said United’s new small planes — 18 feet longer than the planes it uses now — will have 10 business-class seats, 20 “economy plus” seats and only 20 regular economy seats.

“By making those 50-seat jets more comfortable, United has a good chance of attracting more business and frequent flyers,” said Harteveldt, the analyst.

Chicago-based United is the nation’s third-biggest airline by revenue, trailing American and Delta.

David Koenig, 

The Associated Press

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