What Are You Thinkin’?
Update: Traditionalists are now adding Delta to the list of “We don’t need no stinkin’“. As they have done back in the mid 90′s and turn of the century what one does, the others follow.
After reading the comments section once again, this time there does seem to be a good solution.
Drop airlines altogether and let them handle the service issues.
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When I saw this Travel Weekly article last week, I wondered if anyone else would pick up on this, and after going back this weekend and seeing over 300 comments, I think it’s safe to say that the CEO of American Airlines struck a nerve. I’ll get to the comments section in a bit, but first I’d like to highlight what could be the next move American Airlines may take to put a nail in more Brick and Mortar Travel Agencies around the country. It’s been noted elsewhere and even corrected here that American Airlines was the first to reduce commissions in the mid 90′s and finally eliminating them altogether early at the turn of the century.
Now in a very bold move…a pipe dream…a flash of insanity the CEO of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey sees a day when the roles are completely reversed to reflect Agencies paying for access to the American Airline product rather than American paying Agents to distribute their product. AA certainly needs to think of something to turn things around after a $375 million dollar loss and a 15% drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2009. Based on the reaction of so many Traditionalists, something tells me that American might be going from the frying pan into the fire with this idea of Agents paying American now, which for the moment has gotten more attention than YTB. (Trust me, that’s hard to do.)
When you look at the comments section of the article you find (yet again) a very bitter, angry, and demanding group who needed to tell this CEO that they don’t approve. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few well spoken and creative ideas mixed in among the 311 comments, but the vast majority of the comments are simply spouting off how angry they are at this idea of getting shafted once again by the airlines.
What’s surprising to me is that I found several comments (if someone wants to count how many feel free) in line with “We don’t need no stinkin’ AA” which is often thrown up as an excuse by YTB when it comes to RCL and NCL. A boycott of American Airlines appears to be the move most Traditionalists seem to favor to combat this “dream” as a united voice of “Well show you who controls this industry”. I for one found it interesting that the same terminology was used by many from the Tradionalist crowd as a way of making them feel important.
I also found it interesting that this CEO doesn’t know how the travel industry actually works. There seems to be some sort of magical algorithm in place that only Traditionalist know about in order to be accepted into the fold. In this case Gerard is made out to be some snotty MBA type who is paid millions off the back of the hard working foot soldiers who pay his salaries. (Agent themselves who promote and sell his product.) And while we’re on the subject of “wealth envy”, which is what this is all about anyway, Agents praise a bailout for themselves, which was finally passed after a second push, but it’s pointed out as nothing more than greed and wasted expense when it comes to the airlines.
When you lose $375 million in a quarter, they do have a point.
Honestly, some of the comments are extremely entertaining, while others make me wonder how some have been able to survive as long as they have. Still others beg the question why they’re still in the industry with all the injustice going on that makes them nothing more than victims. When margins fell below what I thought was acceptable to live off of in the Home Entertainment Industry, I got out and moved on to something else, while others stayed on to the very end when the company finally went bankrupt.
These are very interesting and difficult times in this industry, and I’m sure venting about such things like this make some feel better, but after looking at majority of the comments I have to question where any solution can be found to help any of these agents stay in business or be happy.
But as we have seen so many times before with YTB, the best answer to solve one’s problem is elevating your temper and spouting off with threats and empty promises. While I haven’t checked, like YTB, I suspect that none of Traditionalists actually own American Airlines, and this is a free country.
Unfortunately, all that is thrown out the window when you work in the Travel Industry. You simply don’t have the freedom to think about or choose to do things any different from the way some believe it should be.
Heaven help you if you do because like I’ve seen so many times before you’ll feel the rath of a very bitter and angry segment of this industry.
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Tags: American Airlines, Delta, Travel Agent Commission, Travel Weekly
April 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Seems Delta is heading down the same path also. If the “TTA’s” are bitter now what will they do when the whole industry, as they know it, changes to the point they can’t operate in the “traditional” way? My guess is they will just start a blog and gripe about it.