Air Ticket Sales

The Fluxuation Of Air Ticket Sales

The effect of the resolution finally hammered out is to ensure that the president and chief executive of every airline in the Iata will not only insist that his own staff cease discounting, but also do all that he possibly can to "explore fully all possible compromises to achieve a realistic, clear and economically viable range of air ticket sales in his own area.

It will be too late to help with the heavy holiday air travel, but tomorrow big changes take effect in the way airline tickets are sold. A new rule by the Civil Aeronautics Board will deregulate the sales of airline tickets which, until now, could only be sold by the airlines themselves or accredited travel agents.

Airlines can contract with outside air ticket sales sources with computer access, like Ticketron, banks and department stores. Supporters of deregulation say this could mean lower fares as well as quicker and more convenient purchases.

But critics, led by the travel agents, say a proliferation of sales sources will mean chaos, inefficiency and less security for the consumer. Despite strong objections by the travel agents, the new system was approved by a vote of four to one by the CAB.

Now there are only two sellers of airline tickets, the airlines themselves and the 20,000 accredited travel agents in the country. Some 65% of all domestic travel tickets are bought through the agents, 85% of the foreign; both percentages having jumped considerably since airline deregulation and its complexity of fares began in 1978. Agents get a 10% commission from the airlines for selling the tickets, and they get accredited for ticket sales from two airline trade organizations, one for domestic flights, another for foreign.

The airlines have been able to collaborate in this joint accreditation process because the Civil Aeronautics Board exempted them from anti-trust laws that would otherwise prevent it. It's the removal of that exemption that is a major part of the new CAB decision.

It does not require the airlines to license outlets other than travel agents to sell their tickets; it only makes it possible if they so wish. There is also a two-year phase-in of the new freedom: until 1985, only those accredited travel agents can still sell tickets that involve trips on more than one airline. This move was very carefully thought out and analyzed over a period of time.