New Delhi: Air India’s recent move to offer its inventory solely through select GDS and disconnect others has created widespread resentment among travel agents. In a joint release, Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) and Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI) have asked the national carrier to reconsider its stand.
While Air India argues that this would save its distribution costs by about 40%, the outfits hold that the airline would incur huge financial losses as it will lose highly on seat sale. The agents are unhappy that the decision has been taken without any prior discussions with them who have invested extensively and were promoting it since long.
As a national carrier, Air India has a wider social responsibility to protect and act in the interest of the Indian travelers as well as the small and medium enterprises. But it has completely ignored the support it has been getting from the agency community, they lamented.