Airbnb expanding to transportation, hires veteran aviation exec
Airbnb plans to expand its line-up of travel related services to transportation.
It announced the hiring of airline executive Fred Reid who becomes global head of transportation.
Reid served as CEO of Virgin America and president at Delta Airlines.
He was most recently head of the autonomous air taxi division at Kitty Hawk.
Despite Reid’s credentials, Airbnb insists it has no plans to start its own airline.
"I’m not interested in building our own airline or creating just another place on the internet where you can buy a plane ticket, but there is a tremendous opportunity to improve the transportation experience for everyone," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said.
Airbnb has aspirations to be a complete end-to-end supplier of travel services beyond homesharing.
It has already delved into tours and activities, and restaurant reservations.
The transportation division would likely partner with ground transport operators such as tour buses, trains, taxis and boat operators, according to one person familiar with the plans.
Airbnb is prepping for a possible IPO this year and said it had ‘substantially more’ than $1 billion in third quarter revenues.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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