The IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) in its AGM of Maharshtra chapter, has unanimously decided to demand 5 per cent commission on gross fare from Air India. In turn, the agents fraternity will support Air India to regain its name and brand and will make the ‘Maharaja’ fly high as in the glorious past.
The AGM unequivocally declared that the present day maladies being faced by the agents fraternity was set off by the downfall of the National Carrier that had started in 2004 and was eventually hastened from end-2008 when Air India implemented “zero commission” (within India) to please it’s Grand Masters – the Star Alliance Group. By parliamentary intervention, 3% commission was reinstated and the Aircraft Rules 1937 – Rule 134 (54A) was amended to read “commission as an integral part of the fare which forms the tariff”.
In June 2012, Air India again reduced 3% commission to 1% in and directed Travel Agents to compensate losses by collecting transaction fees from the travelling public. This directive of AI was against the DGCA Order of 5th March 2010 which mandates “commission’ as the legal remuneration to agents. Though Indian the economic and financial situations do not warrant any weekly payment system, our National Carrier played the vital role to curtail the Travel Agents’ credit facilities.
On the other hand, when Air India reduced commission to zero, Emirates offered 5% on the gross fare and the entire Indian Travel community openly supported them. And, thus, a carrier from the Middle East has become more powerful than the National Carrier by holding a dominant position and operating with 185 flights from per week from different parts of India destined to Dubai and beyond.
