Business Travel

– 48% of Safe Harbors’ respondents would book travel away from a bankrupt airline –

BALTIMORE, September 15, 2005 – An airline’s bankruptcy can send a significant portion of business travelers to other carriers, according to a recently completed Company Travelers Poll conducted by Safe Harbors Travel Group, a leading enterprise travel management firm.

The informal survey, which queried much more than 6,200 visitors at www.SafeHarbors.com, asked “Would you book travel away from an airline due to the fact of bankruptcy?” Forty-eight percent of respondents answered “yes.” Safe Harbors’ website attracts mostly enterprise travelers and travel managers.

“The outcomes of the survey are a clear indication that airlines in bankruptcy face a quite serious challenge with business travelers,” said Jay Ellenby, president and CEO of Safe Harbors Travel Group. “While there are constantly extra contributing factors to booking organization travel, bankruptcy is clearly a major concern.”

“The poll results support what we hear regularly from clients,” added Ellenby. “Reliability is a critical concern of business travelers and travel managers. The uncertainty that bankruptcy adds to a travel purchase decision can easily tip-the-scales to one more carrier. Business travelers are also protective of their frequent flyer benefits and want to accrue travel credits with far more stable carriers. As a result, airlines already struggling with bankruptcy are compelled to invest even much more on advertising and lower fares to attract and retain organization travelers.”

The poll was concluded prior to the bankruptcy filings by Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines. “These are the third and fourth key airlines to declare bankruptcy since the attacks on September 11th, preceded by United Airlines and US Airways, leaving few alternatives for organization travelers,” commented Ellenby. “The change in organization traveler behavior is fairly predictable. Even so, although the long-term impact of the bankruptcies remains to be seen, at this time we are confident that there will be little or no impact on short-term travel itineraries. Recent great news from US Airways is raising hopes they will emerge from bankruptcy soon as an additional solid travel option.”