Writing · Travel

Travel.

What the industry's structural shifts look like from the operator chair. The agentic reckoning, the GDS afterlife, the unit economics underneath the brand stories.

67 pieces. All writing.

April 21, 2026 · 9 min
A eulogy for the ULCC model: it was never solvent, and the bailouts wrote the ending.
April 16, 2026 · 2 min
AI doesn't read your hotel brand. It reads your API.
April 15, 2026 · 8 min
Aviation alternative-fuels math: Boeing's Q1 2026 delivery recovery made the fuel calculus harder.
March 16, 2026 · 2 min
Spirit asked for a bailout. Nobody legislated 'no'.
February 16, 2026 · 2 min
Expedia's 10-K named agentic AI. The board owns the threat now.
February 15, 2026 · 6 min
Airbus narrowbody backlog math, updated: Boeing's Q1 2026 delivery beat changed the calculus.
January 17, 2026 · 2 min
30% gone to AI Overviews. The OTA equity story repriced.
January 14, 2026 · 2 min
Most enterprises can't build a clean thesis. Expedia builds 1,500 agents a year.
January 13, 2026 · 3 min
Booking vs. Expedia 2025: the OTA hierarchy just had its biggest single-year shift in 15 years.
January 5, 2026 · 2 min
DMA and Google AI agree on one thing. The OTA is the spread to compress.
December 17, 2025 · 3 min
Airbnb made AI the fourth pillar. Specialized beat general where trust was scarcest.
December 16, 2025 · 6 min
The 30% OTA traffic loss is now measured, not modeled. Here is the post-mortem.
December 11, 2025 · 3 min
AI Overviews don't kill clicks. They kill the attribution chain that monetized the click.
December 8, 2025 · 3 min
Famous or indispensable. Travel platforms have to pick one.
November 16, 2025 · 5 min
The OTA isn't a destination. It's a click-out tax.
October 29, 2025 · 8 min
The GDS will outlive every startup that came to disrupt it. American Airlines paid $1.5B to prove it.
October 27, 2025 · 3 min
The system that caused overtourism is being asked to fix it.
October 21, 2025 · 6 min
The AI-generated travel itinerary product was always going to be the booking funnel. Expedia's 10-K confirmed it.
October 19, 2025 · 2 min
AI pricing creates two consumer outcomes. Regulation only sees one.
September 16, 2025 · 2 min
Hotels printed margin. Airlines printed apologies.
August 19, 2025 · 3 min
Spirit filed Chapter 11 again. The bailout-as-life-support thesis now has two receipts.
August 16, 2025 · 8 min
The hotel category is broken in a way the airlines are not. Airbnb's AI fourth pillar is the divergence signal.
August 15, 2025 · 6 min
The Agentic Reckoning Comes for Travel
August 8, 2025 · 5 min
Air Canada's attendants struck the unpaid hour. The 50-year norm broke.
July 16, 2025 · 3 min
Four bolts went unrecorded. The CMES record-keeping was the safety control.
July 14, 2025 · 2 min
AI travel-planning crossed 50%. The OTA is the checkout now.
May 29, 2025 · 2 min
The travel hacker is now a vintage profession.
May 14, 2025 · 2 min
The OTA endgame is being the agent's vendor, not the user's.
May 8, 2025 · 3 min
United deployed AI to catch skiplaggers. The Texas jury said skiplagging is legal.
March 11, 2025 · 8 min
Google is eating the OTA's SEO floor. The defense playbook was written for a world that no longer exists.
January 28, 2025 · 6 min
OpenAI Operator is the demo of what every travel and healthcare booking flow needs in 18 months.
January 27, 2025 · 3 min
The medical-tourism market is a denial-arbitrage market.
January 9, 2025 · 8 min
Itinerary rebooking is the right shape of agentic travel. Expedia finally agrees in its 10-K.
January 6, 2025 · 3 min
Long-stay travelers are an unbuilt platform tier.
November 26, 2024 · 6 min
Spirit Airlines filed Chapter 11. The ULCC model died on slide 17.
November 20, 2024 · 3 min
The next travel category is opacity-as-a-service.
November 19, 2024 · 6 min
The OTA take rate is going up. The OTA existential 10-K is the confirmation.
November 5, 2024 · 6 min
Culture is downstream of structure. Southwest's Elliott settlement is the evidence.
October 19, 2024 · 3 min
Two travel companies are quietly shipping agentic features. One will call it existential.
October 14, 2024 · 6 min
The ULCC model was always structurally broken. Spirit is just the first to file the paperwork.
October 8, 2024 · 3 min
Founder Mode, Chesky version. Airbnb is the receipt.
October 7, 2024 · 2 min
DOT's Alaska-Hawaiian conditions were the merger's permission slip.
September 26, 2024 · 4 min
The premium-leisure thesis was the only good rebound.
September 16, 2024 · 2 min
Marriott stopped publishing the chart. The redemption costs went up anyway.
September 14, 2024 · 3 min
American picked the fight with the agencies. The agencies kept the routes.
August 16, 2024 · 3 min
SkyMiles devalued and the DOT showed up. Loyalty is a regulated product now.
August 13, 2024 · 2 min
Booking grew on Europe. Expedia stalled on America. The cohort split.
August 5, 2024 · 5 min
The mall is dead. Long live the ... airport?
July 16, 2024 · 3 min
Copilot crossed 100M. Your TMC just became substitutable.
July 8, 2024 · 6 min
Three OTAs shipped concierge AI. All three failed the same way.
June 6, 2024 · 8 min
Why the metasearch consolidation is bad for everyone except Booking.com.
May 28, 2024 · 6 min
The AI-in-corporate-travel category is the second-most underbuilt.
May 9, 2024 · 6 min
AI in airline operations: where the unsexy money is.
May 8, 2024 · 8 min
The NDC migration is six years late and still wrong.
May 1, 2024 · 6 min
The end-of-year travel column the trade press won't publish.
April 27, 2024 · 4 min
Health data became travel-insurance data that quarter.
April 25, 2024 · 5 min
The city became a booking layer that spring.
April 23, 2024 · 4 min
Why I won't fly Spirit again.
April 22, 2024 · 7 min
Revenue management is now an inputs problem.
April 20, 2024 · 4 min
The Sunday-night business-traveler segment is dead. Long live the Tuesday-Thursday segment.
April 11, 2024 · 2 min
What the rental-car return process should look like.
March 19, 2024 · 2 min
The IATA new-distribution-capability adoption stat, in context.
March 5, 2024 · 7 min
The long tail is what an agent does that an agent can't.
March 4, 2024 · 8 min
American Airlines thought it was the dictator. The NDC revolt proved it is a tenant.
February 14, 2024 · 3 min
On the 'death of the travel agent' framing.
January 4, 2024 · 6 min
Booking became underwriting last winter.
January 3, 2024 · 3 min
Why the 'subscription airfare' experiments keep failing.

Travel.

A eulogy for the ULCC model: it was never solvent, and the bailouts wrote the ending.

AI doesn't read your hotel brand. It reads your API.

Aviation alternative-fuels math: Boeing's Q1 2026 delivery recovery made the fuel calculus harder.

Spirit asked for a bailout. Nobody legislated 'no'.

Expedia's 10-K named agentic AI. The board owns the threat now.

Airbus narrowbody backlog math, updated: Boeing's Q1 2026 delivery beat changed the calculus.

30% gone to AI Overviews. The OTA equity story repriced.

Most enterprises can't build a clean thesis. Expedia builds 1,500 agents a year.

Booking vs. Expedia 2025: the OTA hierarchy just had its biggest single-year shift in 15 years.

DMA and Google AI agree on one thing. The OTA is the spread to compress.

Airbnb made AI the fourth pillar. Specialized beat general where trust was scarcest.

The 30% OTA traffic loss is now measured, not modeled. Here is the post-mortem.

AI Overviews don't kill clicks. They kill the attribution chain that monetized the click.

Famous or indispensable. Travel platforms have to pick one.

The OTA isn't a destination. It's a click-out tax.

The GDS will outlive every startup that came to disrupt it. American Airlines paid $1.5B to prove it.

The system that caused overtourism is being asked to fix it.

The AI-generated travel itinerary product was always going to be the booking funnel. Expedia's 10-K confirmed it.

AI pricing creates two consumer outcomes. Regulation only sees one.

Hotels printed margin. Airlines printed apologies.

Spirit filed Chapter 11 again. The bailout-as-life-support thesis now has two receipts.

The hotel category is broken in a way the airlines are not. Airbnb's AI fourth pillar is the divergence signal.

The Agentic Reckoning Comes for Travel

Air Canada's attendants struck the unpaid hour. The 50-year norm broke.

Four bolts went unrecorded. The CMES record-keeping was the safety control.

AI travel-planning crossed 50%. The OTA is the checkout now.

The travel hacker is now a vintage profession.

The OTA endgame is being the agent's vendor, not the user's.

United deployed AI to catch skiplaggers. The Texas jury said skiplagging is legal.

Google is eating the OTA's SEO floor. The defense playbook was written for a world that no longer exists.

OpenAI Operator is the demo of what every travel and healthcare booking flow needs in 18 months.

The medical-tourism market is a denial-arbitrage market.

Itinerary rebooking is the right shape of agentic travel. Expedia finally agrees in its 10-K.

Long-stay travelers are an unbuilt platform tier.

Spirit Airlines filed Chapter 11. The ULCC model died on slide 17.

The next travel category is opacity-as-a-service.

The OTA take rate is going up. The OTA existential 10-K is the confirmation.

Culture is downstream of structure. Southwest's Elliott settlement is the evidence.

Two travel companies are quietly shipping agentic features. One will call it existential.

The ULCC model was always structurally broken. Spirit is just the first to file the paperwork.

Founder Mode, Chesky version. Airbnb is the receipt.

DOT's Alaska-Hawaiian conditions were the merger's permission slip.

The premium-leisure thesis was the only good rebound.

Marriott stopped publishing the chart. The redemption costs went up anyway.

American picked the fight with the agencies. The agencies kept the routes.

SkyMiles devalued and the DOT showed up. Loyalty is a regulated product now.

Booking grew on Europe. Expedia stalled on America. The cohort split.

The mall is dead. Long live the ... airport?

Copilot crossed 100M. Your TMC just became substitutable.

Three OTAs shipped concierge AI. All three failed the same way.

Why the metasearch consolidation is bad for everyone except Booking.com.

The AI-in-corporate-travel category is the second-most underbuilt.

AI in airline operations: where the unsexy money is.

The NDC migration is six years late and still wrong.

The end-of-year travel column the trade press won't publish.

Health data became travel-insurance data that quarter.

The city became a booking layer that spring.

Why I won't fly Spirit again.

Revenue management is now an inputs problem.

The Sunday-night business-traveler segment is dead. Long live the Tuesday-Thursday segment.

What the rental-car return process should look like.

The IATA new-distribution-capability adoption stat, in context.

The long tail is what an agent does that an agent can't.

American Airlines thought it was the dictator. The NDC revolt proved it is a tenant.

On the 'death of the travel agent' framing.

Booking became underwriting last winter.

Why the 'subscription airfare' experiments keep failing.