US Airways' Scott Kirby Joins the Board of LodgeNet

I opened up my email yesterday to see I had an Implu alert that US Airways President Scott Kirby was joining the board of LodgeNet. That made me wonder if there could be some possible cooperation at work here on a future inflight entertainment system.

You’ve probably used LodgeNet’s offerings in the past. They’re the ones who power many of those hotel in-room entertainment systems. You know what I’m talking about . . . television, guest services, pay per view, etc. They don’t currently have anything in the airline world that I know of, but it does seem like it could be a natural extension of the brand for them.

Of course, it’s not uncommon for executives at one company to sit on the board of another unrelated one, but it seems like there could be a strategic move in here somewhere. With Kirby joining the board, I’d think he could bring some very clear ideas to LodgeNet about what sort of system he’d like to see onboard.

But wait, US Airways just removed their inflight entertainment from domestic flights, right? So why would they care about this at all? It wasn’t that long ago that US Airways was talking about a new seatback inflight entertainment system in the not-too-distant future. So if they can find a system that does what they want and can generate extra revenue, it could be a good fit. There’s no question LodgeNet is now in a good place to win this business.