We're reminded this week that getting tech right is both tough and crucial. Our most popular story of the week touches on the integration of the Alaska Airlines and Virgin American reservations systems. After the cutover in April, Alaska mistakenly opened up 40 percent more availability of its award seats at the cheapest levels than it had done a year earlier. The tech glitch ended up hurting Alaska's second quarter financial results. Likewise, American Airlines disclosed that it had to cancel 3,000 flights when one of its regional airlines experienced a tech outage.
Meanwhile, on the tech front, Expedia's hotel boss states in a story that the company is building so much technology for its lodging partners that he wouldn't object if we come to consider Expedia to be on par with a hotel soft brand. Well, that's what Expedia is hoping for.