TAs Oppose Airline Commission Cut

Anindita Chattopadhyay - New Delhi

The travel agents fraternity is putting up a united front against the commission cut move by Air-India and other airlines. Agents have been slapped with an announcement that the commission will be reduced from seven to five per cent. Six months ago, a similar move by European Airlines led by Lufthansa, saw airlines buckling under the pressure of agent unity and revoking the decision unconditionally. However, this time around, agents and airlines seem to be on an even keel because Air-India is party to it. Realising that the battle will be tough, associations are not ruling out taking legal action. Talking to Express Travel & Tourism on the sidelines of the conference, Praveen Chugh of TAFI said, "We are not ruling out legal action if the negotiations with airlines fail." Conceded Kavi Kohli, treasurer, TAAI, "We will suspend selling tickets first and negotiate to solve the issue amicably. If this fails, then we will have no option but to take legal action."

When asked about how good they believed their chances were, should they decide to go the legal way, Kohli added, "Agents have signed a legal document with IATA that the commission on ticket sale will be nine per cent in India. The manuals that IATA keeps sending us are all one-sided, hence we believe that we are justified in taking legal action."

Addressing the press, TAAI president Balbir Mayal said, "The last time airlines rolled back the commission cut they promised not to take any unilateral decisions and give us time to adapt to any new business model. We plan to collectively oppose any airline trying to reduce commission by suspending ticket sales." Zakk+ir Ahmed, president TAFI, explained that commission is not a distribution cost but the cost of sale since commission paid is a form of remuneration for services rendered to the customer on behalf of the airlines. "The airlines have reduced fares by 25-40 per cent. In all essence this is already a reduction of the commission. Further, this is not a global phenomenon because in Japan and Sri Lanka airlines still pay nine per cent," he concluded.