Agents revoke A-I ticket sale suspension

Overseas holidayers can finally breathe easy. Travel agents across the country have called off their 19-day agitation against Air-India and a couple of European carriers after getting an assurance from the A-I brass that their grievances would be looked into. “Travel agents across the country have decided to take back the decision of suspending ticket sales of Air-India and other European airlines after getting an assurance from the management that our problems pertaining to commission cuts would be considered,” Travel Agents Association of India president Balbir S Mayal said. A-I, along with European carriers, Singapore Airlines and Asiana Airlines, had decided to cut agents’ commission from 7% to 5% with effect from May 1 in line with the global practice of cutting distribution costs, forcing the agents to suspend sale of A-I tickets from April 1. The agents had even observed a one-day bandh to protest against the reduction of agency commissions. But the strike had very little impact as the carriers started using their offices across the country as points of sale for airline tickets at competitive rates “We have received a letter from the A-I management inviting us for discussions on the issue. We are planning to meet them next week to sort out our differences and find an amicable solution which would avoid loss of business to both the affected parties,” Mayal said. “We realise that the 2% commission cut is here to stay. However, we want an assurance from the airlines that the commission is not eliminated totally,” he added. Airlines have already started moving into a zero-commission regime the world over. Western airlines had last year mooted plans to start dropping agent commissions, a move that had attracted the ire of the agent community forcing the carriers to withdraw the reductions

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/