AGENTS should mount a massive show of
strength against airline payment cuts by closing shops for a day, the leader of
the American Society of Travel Agents has urged.
President
and chief executive Richard Copland said the UK trade should copy ASTA’s day of
action last autumn, which saw 10,000 travel agencies across the US shut for two
hours. Agents also held pickets at 22 major airports.
Copland
said the draconian move shamed carriers into behaving more responsibly with
agents after news of the shutdown featured in the media. ASTA took the action
after American Airlines and United Airlines cut payments, exactly as British
Airways has done under Future Size and Shape.
Copland
said: “We held the day of awareness as a show of solidarity. I would advise
agents in the UK to look at it.”
He
said retailers must have the resolve to carry out the action but this could be
achieved. “Agents closed all over the US because airlines ignored distribution.
The carriers are run by Wall Street,” added Copland.
The
determined ASTA president and chief executive, who is an agent in New York’s
Bronx district, said the time is right for the UK to put on a “velvet glove”
when dealing with cost-cutting airlines. However, Copland’s call received a
cool response from his counterpart at ABTA.
The
association’s chief executive Ian Reynolds said: “I do not feel action would
have the same success here as they believe it had in the US.
“It
is better for agents to show their value to the public and if we are seen to be
whinging too much about losing commission, the customers will think they can
get a better deal from the airlines direct.”
Reynolds
acknowledged ASTA’s rallying call of ‘Without an agent you are on your own’ was
something ABTA could use to focus the public’s attention.
ABTA’s response to BA’s cuts is to threaten to report
the airline to the Office of Fair Trading. Newman Street is in the process of
gathering evidence to support its case that BA is abusing its dominant position.
ABTA’s legal department is meeting competition lawyers combing through the case
next week.