http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/travel-agents-sell-away-from-zero-commission-to-offer-full-support-to-national-carriers-trying-to-bail-out-with-help-of-goi-7367
Travel Biz Monitor, 10 Jul 2009
Travel agents ‘sell away’ from zero commission to offer full support to national carriers trying to bail out with help of GoI
According to a press release from Travel Agents Federation of India
(TAFI), with the ongoing fight on the zero commission issue between the
travel agents fraternity and Singapore Airlines (SIA) not resulting in
any solutions,
in a major show of solidarity most travel agents across India have now refused to sell tickets for SIA. The
matter had also been taken up by the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA), which in turn had issued an ultimatum to SIA and other
airlines which have abolished commission to explain the rationale
behind their actions.
On the other hand airlines like Jet Airways,
Kingfisher Airlines and Air India have come out in support of the
travel federations and have re-instated their commissions. Moreover,
airlines from Hong Kong and China are also espousing the agents cause. In
a recent development travel agents have thus decided to sell away from
foreign carriers as the agent-airline relationship seems to have been
struck at its root. They will henceforth promote Indian carriers like
Air India, who are trying to bail themselves out with help from the
Government of India (GoI). The travel agents community has decided to
support the national carriers.
“Discussions are on with senior officials of the national carriers and
the CMD of Air India has been most pro-active in his approach and has
expressed his willingness to consider any constructive proposal from
the travel agents which will help Air India to improve its bottomline,”
said Pradip Lulla, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).
In a reciprocal gesture, the travel agents have been rooting for a
bailout package for airlines, particularly Air India, hit by the global
economic downturn. “It
is downright unacceptable for foreign carriers who enter our country to
hike their profits, exploit the local parties involved and dictate
terms to them. We won’t stand for it. Rather, we’ll do business with Indian carriers now,” added Lulla.
“It is heartening to note that the
DGCA has taken cognizance of the mater and has directed the foreign
airlines to adhere to the law of the land. We are not asking for a
bailout, merely a protection of our basic right to livelihood,” stated Ajay Prakash, National General Secretary, TAFI.
Compared to the first two quarters
of 2008, SIA has registered a 72.5 per cent fall in ticket sales in
2009. Though it is partly because of the global slump, withdrawal of
agents’ support has also contributed considerably towards this
unfavorable trend. At the same time, others like Thai Airlines have
fortunately benefited from the feud. They are now the leading carriers
from India for flights bound to South East Asia and Australia. Also,
Cathay Pacific Airlines now lead in ticket sales to the US especially
sectors to San Francisco Airport (SFO) and Los Angeles (LA) as
Singapore Airlines sees its revenues on this route whittling down to a
two per cent vis-à-vis 2008.
------------------------
Latest @ Singapore News Alternative:
1. Idling ships clog up Singapore shores
2. India Civil Aviation Authority Issue Ultimatum To SIA To Explain Commission Row
3. Heat On ST Aerospace Building Up Over Immigrant Workers In It's American Unit
4. Taiwan trade center in Singapore gets green light
5. David Widjaja was murdered, says lawyer
6. Travel agents decide to help Indian carriers with zero commission after dispute with SIA remains unresolved
7. Tiger Airway's Flight Cancellation Leave Travellers Stranded & Fuming
.
BA is asking their staff to cut one to four week paid, CEO and top management will forgo one month paid, and for KLIM, the dutch airline, their pilots also become language handlers.
Nothing special, airline are cost cutting like hell, even my recent trip by SIA to HK, the utensil had changed to those lousy type, damn, i like to keep airline utensils for souvenir,...
When the CEO is paid $120,000 monthly - a 10 percent cut is only $12,000 - they still take home $108,000.
When the an average worker gets a paycheck of $3,000 - a 10 percent paycut is $300 - and after the CPF cut of another 20 percent - the take home pay is $2,160.
When an Agent's revenue is based on 2 percent from every ticket sold - the revenue from a ticket that is worth $3,000 will generate only $60 for the agent.
For the Agent, every cent that contributes to their revenue will help pay for the overheads incurred in rent, utilities, wages, and ancilliary operating costs.
Is Singapore Airlines being "penny wise, pound foolish" ?