Indian TAs withdraw Jet sales
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All the major travel agents associations in India have announced that they will not support or sell tickets for Jet Airways and its low-cost subsidiary, Jetlite, Anil Mathur reports from India. The move is a protest against the carriers withdrawing agents’ commission.
This decision, made on Monday and to become effective by Thursday 4 December was taken following a long meeting of Indian trade bodies including Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) and Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
Travel agency leaders said that the 5% commission should be restored, as the cuts could lead to large scale unemployment. They alleged that the airlines were playing a “divide and rule” game with them, and now all the agents bodies would act in a united manner.
Rajji Rai, TAAI President, said that the service and transaction fee concept had failed in India because the airlines had not played a fair game.
The decision only to single out Jet Airways was unanimous, though they added that more airlines could be added to the list. The agent bodies called it a strategic move, but added that they were open to meaningful discussions to resolve the issue.
The agents feel that 85% of ticketing is through them.
IATO President, Vijay Thakur, said that the Jet Airways had reached its prominent position today because of the work done by travel agents.
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