New contractor to operate Kirtland Consolidated Travel Office Published July 25, 2013 By Carl Grusnick 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The Kirtland Consolidated Travel Office will be managed by a new contractor. Since 2005, Winggate Travel has managed the activity, according to George Torres, manager of Passenger Travel at the Kirtland Traffic Management Office. "The standard contract is three years. and Winggate has been awarded additional option years beyond that," Torres said. Manassas Travel has been awarded the new contract by the U.S. Army Transportation Command, which manages transportation activity for the Department of Defense. They will begin transitioning office management Aug. 1, with current CTO staff joining the new contractor. Staff members have recently attended training with Manassas Travel in Salt Lake City to learn how to use the Sabre Travel Network, an industry standard for booking airline reservations. "Sabre is a highly regarded electronic reservations system that works well with DTS, enhancing CTO operations and customer service, we are pleased that Manassas will be using the system," Torres said. One of the things new to the CTO user will be an enhanced customer interface with the travel company. When a caller contacts the Kirtland location, they will be immediately connected to a live person, even if one is not available at the Kirtland CTO. "If the local office is busy, the phone system will transfer a caller to someone at another one of their locations who can assist you with all aspects of your travel needs," said Paula Wild, Manassas Travel executive director. Manassas Travel is headquartered in Park City, Utah, and serves 18 Air Force base locations. Established in 1989, the independently owned travel services company is certified by the Small Business Administration as a small, woman-owned enterprise. In addition to the Air Force base locations, Manassas Travel has two central reservations offices in Manassas, Va. and Salt Lake City.