US agents stung by booking fees
Two more US carriers have announced expanded or increased booking fees. American Airlines has expanded it $20 paper ticket fee to agent bookings and to the previously exempt full-fare customers. Northwest has raised its fee for paper tickets from $10 to $25 on routes where electronic tickets are available
The carriers have followed in the footsteps of Continental Airlines, which recently applied a $20 fee to all customers receiving a paper ticket. Agents that fail to charge the customer $20 for a paper ticket are charged $50 by Continental.
The move will deal a further blow to agents in the US, following the decision made by most of the US carriers in March this year, to scrap commissions. President and chief executive of the American Society of Travel Agents, Richard Copland said of Continental’s actions: “It appears on the surface to be another cost-control measure, but in reality this action shows that the airline is driven by its own needs, not by what the consumers want”.
A spokesperson for American said the extension of fees to agents was a cost cutting measure. In another move to cut costs, American has announced that it is cutting down from 11 to two office buildings at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. The move should be completed by 2005.
American chairman and chief executive, Don Carty said: “Early in 2001, at the first signs of an economic downturn, we began examining all the ways we could reduce our overhead structure. Once completed, these moves will save us another $6 million annually in facility cost”.
Read our previous stories:
22-March-2002 Zero commission hits agents in US
19-March-2002 Continental and American scrap base commissions in US
19-March-2002 Delta scraps agency commissions in US and Canada
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