Airlines are at it again, this time chipping away the commissions travel agents receive for booking their customers on flights.

Friday, August 31, 2001

Airlines are at it again, this time chipping away the commissions travel agents receive for booking their customers on flights. It’s a move that will only further raise the cost of air travel to the consumer.

Not that airlines, who make rounds of fare hikes a regular exercise, seem to care much about that – especially in Minnesota, where a lack of competition has travelers at the mercy of one carrier.

Travel agents say they already work on thin profit margins, and slicing their commissions will force them to either take a reduction in their profits or raise their fees to compensate. Many have already said they’ll do the latter. The losers end up being the consumers who rely on travel agencies for business or recreational travel.

That will likely encourage some to use online flight-booking services or go directly through airlines – again, exactly what the airlines want. They make more money if they cut out the middle man.

It’s just another treacherous move from an industry that has consistently built a bad name for itself.