Can purple demon avoid Orbitz errors?
An indignant e-mail about my last column on Orbitz criticized me for suggesting that “announcing your intentions almost a year before you’re prepared to take your first booking” is a mistake every online travel company ought to avoid. “You are assuming there was no strategic reason to do this,” quipped the reader. The note was signed, “Alex ‘the monopolist’ Zoghlin.” All of which brings us to last week’s news: the revelation that six major carriers have been toiling away in secret for the last year to form a Web site that will sell distressed airline inventory. Is it possible that Hotwire, which was known in the airline business as Project Purple Demon, learned something from Orbitz’ premature announcement? We know that Hotwire will be ready to do business this fall – it could even beat Orbitz to market, which would be a supreme irony. We know that American Airlines, America West, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United and US Airways are involved. We know that it’s funded to
