Few travel agents have been shedding any tears for deposed British Airways chief executive Bob Ayling.
Now everyone is speculating about whether his successor will be a more reasonable business partner.
No-one is naive enough to think that a new person is going to come in and suddenly start slapping out big commission payments to agents. But if that person arrives in a few months’ time and sees that business through travel agents has fallen dramatically, or simply realises how influential retailers can be, he might say ‘hang on, we’ve got to be a bit more flexible here and phase in these changes more gradually’.
So there is light at the end of the tunnel for agents and they should redouble efforts to make BA more flexible.
At the moment, BA is saying nothing will change and everyone is still committed to the current strategy of going for business-class passengers and axing travel agents’ commission.
That’s nonsense. If the new chief executive isn’t going to change things, what was the point of getting rid of Ayling?
The last thing a new boss will want to do is follow in the footsteps of someone who was considered to be a failure.
He or she will want to make their mark and set their own agenda. For agents, the fight is not yet over.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor