To punish individuals profiting from the now-surging demand after two years of travel restrictions, Air India has barred local agents from buying tickets in the Canada sector.
A segment of the travel industry believes the airline's harsh position, now that it is owned by Tata, represents the conglomerate's legendary value systems of equality, stakeholder responsibility, and justice.
After discovering that some agents were not following proper ticket-selling procedures, Air India blacklisted them.
“These agents had wreaked havoc. They were reserving seats at a specific price and then reselling them for four times the original amount. They’ve been blacklisted due to the shambles they’ve created, which has resulted in losses for the airline,” a top source at the company said on condition of anonymity.
Those interested in flying the sector can do so directly on the airline’s website.
“An abnormality was discovered in the way tickets were booked by a few agents, and action was taken as a result.”
Passengers can now book through call centres and the airline’s website, according to an unnamed industry source.
An Air India official said he is ‘awaiting a response from the department concerned.’
The restriction on agents is expected to have an impact on Air India flight bookings to Canada during the high summer travel season, especially given the government’s announcement that regular international flights will resume.
The India-Canada sector, in particular, is expected to see high demand this year due to the presence of a substantial Indian diaspora in Canada, particularly Indian students.
The only airlines that fly directly between the two countries are Air India and Air Canada.
However, other travel agents argue that imposing a blanket ban on everyone because of the mistakes of a few is not the best approach.
"Tickets between India and Canada can be sold through overseas agents." It is also possible for OTAs registered in other countries to do so. Only travel agents in India are discriminated against, and TAFI members are rightly outraged, said Ajay Prakash, head of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).
He went on to say that the federation was pleased with the Tatas’ acquisition of Air India and hoped to see more progressive and proactive measures in the future.
“The entire business has experienced massive losses over the last two years, and while the announcement of the resumption of scheduled commercial flights was a welcome relief, this discriminatory action has put a damper on things.”
- Agents are an airline’s extended marketing arm, so cutting them off makes little sense.
- Air India is endangering itself by antagonising Indian agents; this is not the way to develop an airline, Prakash added.
- He said the group has written to Air India’s chairman, requesting that he solve the problem, and is waiting for a response.
The Tata Group won the bidding for Air India and received the airline in January of this year.
While the new owners have not yet announced any major changes to the airline’s management, the group’s desire to hire former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci as CEO and MD was thwarted after Ayci denied the offer.
The Tata Group has also kept the directors of four functional areas — finance, operations, commercial, and human resources – but is focusing on improving service quality in the short term.
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