IATA agent members vexed

An air of dismay surrounds travel agents today owing to lack of support from IATA that has left them grappling for refunds. Agents, especially the smaller ones, across India are in a dilemma
over renewing their IATA membership at all. Has IATA been reduced to just a name and logo?

MP Khanna, Managing Director, Diplomatic Travel

I think agents have a valid point if they feel like giving up their IATA certification as no assistance is being given to IATA members and it is only extended to the airlines. Airlines should be penalised instead. Also, they have been increasing the membership fee yearly. In these times, IATA should at least help the travel agent to get refunds processed. If they cannot protect our money, what is the use of getting an IATA recognition?

Manoj Saraf, Managing Director, Gainwell Travel

Increasingly, the relevance of IATA is becoming less for the travel trade. The kind of umbrella protection that IATA is supposed to provide to a legitimate agent is instead loaded in favour of airlines in practice. Whenever there has been a default on the part of an agent to IATA, in 80-90 per cent of the cases, the money has been recovered. But, we have seen almost 30 airlines going bankrupt in the last 30 years, and the agents had to take the brunt of losing money.

Biji Eapen, President, IAAI

The travel agent is spending around `60,000 pa for IATA. With so much money that agents give them, it is the responsibility of IATA to give services or some remuneration, which is not happening. It is time IATA understands that the agents have to be remunerated for the services being rendered by them for airlines. Travellers would depend on intermediaries who are answerable to customers and the airlines, and we are making that shift.

Zahoor Qari, Chairman, TAAI – J&K Chapter

Our money is stuck and they have created this notion that it is a credit shell, wherein IATA has not played any positive role for travel agents. In J&K alone, certain travel agents have said that they don’t want to continue with IATA because their concerns have not been addressed. The rates we get on IATA GDS are higher than what is given to consolidators. IATA is only for the purpose of a logo. They should have restricted airlines to not issue stock or cabin facility with non-IATA agents.

Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels

IATA was always for airlines and never for the agents. On an average, an agent pays around `70,000-1,00,000 annually as fee for IATA. Without paying all that, they can get a ticket from a consolidator. However, during COVID, agents are worried because consolidators have not been able to pay the money either since they have not received it. Airlines are refunding money in credit shells that can only be used to issue more tickets.

Anil Kalsi, Managing Partner, Ambe World Travels

Firstly, the relevance of IATA has reduced because one is keeping it just for reputation, as ticketing was primarily being done by everybody else. In today’s scenario, one is let down in a big way on matters of refund. Most people are stuck with consolidators for refunds. The consolidators are also not paying up, which is also not safe. For IATA, GoLite is going to be an issue for many agents who do not want to give bank guarantees, etc. The end bank in this case is Yes Bank, which people are not confident about. We don’t know what to do. We have to take lakhs of rupees from airlines. Still, we don’t have anything to sell, despite Vande Bharat flights being sold off in an hour on the airline websites. If airlines go bust, who will you take money from?

Bhagwan Ramnani, MD, Vensimal Leisure Holidays

This is an unprecedented situation, hence, there is no historical data of right or wrong. Airlines, the major sponsors of IATA, are also facing challenges and so are we. Saying that IATA has not done much and we should leave IATA is something I don’t think is correct. People are frustrated, confused and they don’t have direction. Even airlines don’t have direction since they have their aircraft on ground and so many of them are on the verge of closure. Many airlines are getting support from their governments, but agents have no support from any agency and are also on the verge of closure. This is a time IATA should come forward to play a balancing act to resolve pending issues of agents like restoration of commissions, creating guarantee fund at the cost of airlines to secure agents from airline default & failures.

Pradeep Rai, Managing Director, Skyline India Travels

I got my IATA certification in 2004, and it used to be a prestigious thing at the time. Today, IATA doesn’t have much relevance and it is the time of consolidators, as everything is in their hands. IATA only has use as a logo. One would rather give up the IATA recognition. If an agent makes a mistake, he should be ready for the ADM. Today, if we book a ticket directly, we must give service charge, but if we take it from a consolidator, then they have deals across India and they would give me 3-4% extra. Plus, I am taking service charge and I don’t have any trouble of getting an ADM or debit note. I can make a booking by transferring it to them, and they will issue my booking and my ticket is made.

Inputs by Nisha Verma