Selina’s Big Stock Swing

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, August 22. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

Hospitality brand Selina has seen a dramatic swing in its stock price as it attempts to escape from its penny stock status, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. 

The company saw its shares fall 41% last Friday although they rebounded 9% on Monday. O’Neill writes the stock price drop happened after Selina said that 8.6 million shares could be hitting the market soon. Two other hospitality brands, Sonder and Vacasa, have also seen stock prices go to penny stock status recently.  

Next, American Airlines pilots approved a new contract on Monday worth nearly $10 billion, becoming the second major U.S. carrier to finalize a pilot deal this year, reports Edward Russell, editor of Skift publication Airline Weekly.  

Russell writes pilots at American will immediately see a more than 21% pay raise under the four-year contract. It also includes roughly $1.2 billion in retroactive pay and bonuses. However, Russell notes that the deal was hardly a slam dunk for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American’s pilots. Only about 73% of crew members voted for the deal. 

Pilots at Delta Air Lines had ratified a four-year contract of their own in March, which included an up to 34% pay increase. 

Finally, Omni Hotels knows it has the odds stacked against it in the fight to attract travelers. But it’s confident it can compete against global hotel giants, reports Senior Hospitality Editor O’Neill in this week’s Early Check-In column. 

Hotel giants have argued that smaller players such as Omni, which only has 51 hotels and resorts, can’t compete with their ability to use huge loyalty programs to lure guests. But Omni CEO Kurt Alexander touted the benefits of his company in an interview with Skift. Alexander said Omni is less expensive for hotel owners than bigger brands from a franchise and royalty fee standpoint.  

Alexander added he would like to partner more with institutional owners. He said that Omni is flexible on brand standards, which may make it more appealing than large hotel groups that often have an extensive list of requirements.