Sabreline Transportation Inc history

C.R. Smith, president of American Airlines, and R. Blair Smith, a senior sales representative for IBM, met on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York in 1953.

The first passenger reservations system offered by Sabre, installed in 1960, marked a dramatic leap forward for the airline industry, automating one of its key business areas.

By 1978, the Sabre system could store one million fares.

In 1985, consumers with their own personal computers were introduced to the easySabre system, which offered individuals the access and ability to make travel-related arrangements in the comfort of their own homes.

In fact, until 1988, Sabre provided services only to AMR Corporation (AMR), its parent company, and one of AMR's other subsidiaries, American Airlines.

In 1992, however, the department had decided that travel agents could install add-on software, such as "Preference MAAnager," from third-party vendors.

April 1996 brought the beginnings of SABRE's repositioning as a separate legal entity from AMR. The decision to do so was made based on SABRE's position as one of the nation's largest computerized reservation services, as well as on its strong growth in the IT field.

February 1998 brought another multimillion-dollar agreement for the company.

——, "Profits Hit Record Levels for Fort Worth, Texas-Based Travel Firm," Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News , May 17, 1999.

Rising fuel costs struck another blow to the air travel industry and sent carriers scrambling for ways to cut costs and remain solvent. It was a market that could only grow so much, however, and saturation coupled with a decline in leisure travel after the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001 slowed airline business.

In 2002, fees charged to airlines by global distribution systems (GDSs) were expected to top $2.2 billion.