Travel agents, S'pore Airlines' talks end in a stalemate

Mumbai: A marathon four-hour long meeting between leading Indian travel agents and Singapore Airlines ended in a stalemate.
The meeting, between Singapore Airlines’ general manager CW Foo and travel agents, had been called to resolve a three-month long issue of non payment of commissions. The issue had also resulted in the agents boycotting Singapore Airlines.
“Mr Foo offered the travel agents a 1% commission for six months only, and after that, it would go to zero commission structure,” said a source who was present in the meeting.
Even the 1% commission is linked to productivity, he added. Also, the ticketing amount should come from basic fares only.
Mr Foo met six travel association heads including the Travel Agents’ Association of India, Travel Agents Federation of India and IATA Agents Association of India.
When contacted, Travel Agents Federation of India national general secretary Ajay Prakash told ET: “... We had proposed a 5% commission, but it was not accepted. We will continue to boycott Singapore Airlines.”
17/03/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2009