Week in Review

Early last month, China began pressuring airlines to alter the way they refer to Taiwan in their promotional materials. According to Skift, global airlines are giving in to the demands for fear of losing out on the Chinese traveler market.

Amtrak is now offering assigned seating for the first class section of Acela Express trains, USA TODAY reports. The practice may expand to other routes in the future.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) CEO Alexandre de Juniac predicts rising fuel costs will significantly impact airline profits in the coming future, The Economic Times notes.

According to Buying Business Travel, Air France has introduced Le Pass, a prepaid coupon that allows frequent travelers to lock in a fixed price for certain routes, even if they don’t know their exact travel dates.

Emirates President Tim Clark anticipates the airline will launch its premium economy offering in 2020, Arabian Business writes.

Singapore Airlines will restart its nonstop service to New York starting in October, Bloomberg reports. The 19-hour flight will have 67 business class and 94 premium economy seats.

Delta Air Lines will resume its service to India in 2019, USA TODAY notes.

According to Skift, Hyatt has introduced a new corporate travel program targeting small businesses. Hyatt Leverage provides small businesses with discounts of up to 15% off room rates in addition to traveler tracking and spend management tools.

How can organizations recruit and retain talent without breaking the travel budget? This week’s podcast explores the link between travel policy and employee recruitment and retention. Rocketrip’s Dan Ruch shares his take on traveler-centric solutions companies can embrace, and Lola’s Krista Pappas discusses why the travel experience matters.

Various business lobby groups signed a letter urging the government to vote on the Heathrow expansion, BBC reports.

An Expedia survey finds Japanese travelers have a high tolerance for obnoxious airline passengers, Japan Times writes.

According to Travel Weekly, the travel industry must do more to protect client data.