BRITISHAirways, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic will have their appeal against losing the Passenger Service Charge case heard before May 25.
Agents had feared it would be July before the appeal was heard but a judge ruled the deadline must be earlier.
If the airlines fail, they will be liable to pay £60m to retailers for lost commission due to the carriers illegally exempting PSCfrom payments.
BA has met an ABTA deadline on a formula for compensating Jetset Europe, Majestic Travel and Phoenix Travel, the three agencies which won the PSC case (Travel Weekly January 10).
BA is set to announce a new commission structure on Monday. Agents are concerned the successor to the Interim Bonus Agreement will involve zero commission and a fee-based system from January 2001.
Meanwhile, reports suggest BA will scrap IBA, which pays up to 3% extra commission and instead stay with a basic 7% rate from April 1.