Is commission cutting leaving you confused?

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Is commission cutting leaving you confused?

T HIS commission cutting business is becoming more farcical by the day and it’s always the poor old agent who has to suffer.

Last week, British Airways said it was delaying its plans to go to 0% commission – blaming retailers for not getting their act together in preparation for January 1.

The decision, so UKand Ireland head of sales Tiffany Hall told us, was nothing to do with the fact that payment plans and computer reservation systems would not be ready. It was purely because agents needed more time.

In addition, agents are frantically trying to find out what the score is with BA’s franchise carriers.

Brymon Airways has come clean and said it will go to 0%, British Regional Airlines has no plans to change its current 7% commission. But what of British Mediterranean, Maersk Air and GBAirways? They either don’t know yet or won’t say (see page 80).

As for Hall, the pressure of having to do a very difficult job seems to be getting to her – you can’t blame her for trying to put a positive spin on a negative story.

Her favourite line is that BA wants to ‘help’ agents to become properly rewarded. But at a conference last week, Hall stunned everyone by declaring:”It’s not zero commission – we are paying agents.”

Come off it Tiffany – either all the trade bar BAhas misunderstood the message being put out by Waterside over the past eight months, or you need to take a break.

Lisa James – news editor