Written by Megan Chapa, Travel Radio Podcast Host
It's pretty simple. Travel agents don't make their income based on selling air travel. Despite not basing their income on air sales, agents book a lot of tickets!
Airlines, you need travel agents to rebuild.
To be blunt-at least in the leisure segment-agents have not needed you for a long time. But agents like what you do and want to want to work with you. Please show travel agents why they should sell air as part of their services.
Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO of IATA, said it best in his blog: "Our travel agent partners are caught between the airlines and consumers. We are reaching out to them to create a structure for managing a voucher system that will be good for consumers, agents and the airlines."
However, in his Open Letter to the Travel Agent Community, Juniac offered few solutions and little consolation. "I'm afraid that the message I have to deliver is not one that will provide comfort," he stated, while also asking the travel agent community is to have patience.
Travel agents have had a difficult time interacting with airlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to offer exceptional customer service, agents interfaced on their clients' behalf with the various air carriers they were scheduled to fly on. Most agents came away pretty miffed about customer service, wait times and chargebacks.
Post-lockdown, airlines will be leaner in routes, planes, staff and budget. What new regulations will governments roll out? Booking and refund policies will all be in flux. Airlines' social distancing and PPE policies will vary from carrier to carrier. This is a lot of new data to ask travel agents to learn, relearn and pass on to their clients.
No one is making sales right now. All carriers are at near-zero sales. Everyone has market share to gain back.
Thinking ahead to booking airfare again, I've been asking travel agents two questions: Will you book air for your clients post-lockdown? What will it take for an airline to earn your money/clients' money?
Insert loud communal groan here... Agents will continue to book air because good customer service mandates they do. Some said they would try to deter customers from using them to book air with large service fees.
Airlines... Here is the honey you need to lure agents in!
CLEANLINESS: The resounding and loudest demand was for the cleanliness of touch surfaces and recirculating air. Many said they wanted to smell cleaning products when boarding a plane. They want cleaning practices-what and how frequently cleaning happens-put into writing.
Everyone is hypersensitive to germs during this era of Coronavirus. Travelers were leery of airline cleaning practices pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Approaching post-pandemic travel, even travelers able to shrug off sticky tray tables are hyper-triggered to find germs everywhere.
Everyone wants the anticipated and promised cleaning processes airlines are proposing to be the standard indefinitely and not shirked when public awareness wanes. Agents want to see details of process, schedule and longevity.
As far as air cleanliness goes, most airlines have made statements that many planes in their fleets use HEPA air filters. Make actual HEPA filtration a standard on all aircraft. This should be HEPA standards of filtration, not HEPA look-alikes. Only the real deal will get the job done.
PPE: If you require PPE, be prepared to provide PPE. Not everyone has access to supplies or sewing skills. Some people will flat out forget. (They're probably the same people who go through security with liquids in their carry-ons!)
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Help agents help you. Agents are working on your behalf to rebook customers. Answer the phone. Return the emails. Do it all quickly. Air carrier customer service reps and travel agents are colleagues in the travel industry. Holding for four and a half hours is ludicrous! (And it will undoubtedly drive agents to other carriers.) Please make more dedicated agent phone lines available.
BETTER REFUND POLICIES: Make them flexible, simpler and faster. The end.
CHARGEBACKS: Just don't.
COMMISSIONS: Your employees don't work for free. Why should your outside sales team? (Thank you to the few exceptions.)
FAMILY FRIENDLY: Cater to family needs. Actually put the "Families Flying Together Act" into practice. Offer family-friendly seating configurations and nursing pods.
SPECIAL NEEDS: Invest in low stimulation pods or designate quiet areas for persons with special needs. Train staff to support passengers with different needs, for instance, autism training. Make a point person visible and accessible during flight-think: a fancy badge or lanyard.
RESPONSIBLE NOT REUSABLE: The demand for single-serve items will surely increase. This could offset the progress the earth is making at this time. Who will be using recycled plastic? Who will use sustainably sourced items? Who is offsetting and in what ways? Yes, this is already done. Can it be done BETTER?
SOCIAL DISTANCE POLICIES: For practicality, not profit. (*Ahem*Frontier)
PANDEMIC CARE: Agents are increasingly concerned for the world community and will be looking to see who gave their time and resources to those in need during this crisis. Kudos to Jet Blue, Boeing and Hawaiian for your generosity!
Agents and airlines can form a better partnership. This is a great time to do so!
These are some things that are important to agents when selecting air carriers for their clients. Paramount is customer service and cleanliness. Let's come out of this pandemic #strongertogether!
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