Hello everyone. It’s that time again. The latest issue of PlaneBusiness Banter is now posted.

Last week yours truly was traipsing around Dublin, where I attended the CAPA “Airlines in Transition” Conference. But before that, I ventured down to Austin, where I spoke to the fine  folks at the GBTA Texas Education Day, sponsored by the Austin Business Travel Association.

As a result, we had really too much to talk about in this week’s issue. I’ll follow up in our next issue with all the goodies we didn’t have room for this week.

Another thing I did last week was fly out of Love Field. It was the first time I’ve flown out of the airport since they opened the new check-in areas. This week they opened up the gate areas. I may have to plan another trip on Southwest Airlines just so I can  check out the new digs. For those of you who live in the DFW area and have not yet seen the new terminal upgrades, you’re in for a real treat.

In this week’s issue I also talk about the feedback I received from the business travel group in Austin. Bottomline? Since it was pretty much a Texas-centric group, Southwest Airlines was top of mind. Unfortunately for Southwest,  that position was not because of positive reasons. Yep. Heard a lot of complaints. About a number of things.

Meanwhile, when I was in Dublin, Travelport rolled out their new hybrid GDS product — the one they had been hinting about last month when I was out in San Diego speaking to their top clients.

I like it. A lot. easyJet is the company’s first client that is using the new hybrid product that lets agents and TMCs access both direct connection feeds and more traditional GDS listings all on one screen.

From an airline perspective, it allows an airline to provide content in either the more traditional manner as is the case now with the GDS companies — or the airline can provide fare and product information directly through an API.

More on all this in this week’s issue as well.

We also get you up to speed on the traffic stats for March, the DOT Air Travel Consumer results from February, and all kinds of other stuff as well.

In our next issue, I’ll talk more about  the conference in Dublin — and I’ll give my review of Delta Air Lines’ new Business Elite lie flat seats. I’ll give you a hint — as tall as I am, I could stretch out completely flat. THAT is a good thing.

But that is next week.