Strengthening agent ties on the agenda for Cathay

Cathay Pacific has made a commitment that it will “get smarter” in the way that it interacts with the travel agent community following criticisms that the airline has stopped being “agent-friendly”.

The airline came under fire from at the Independent Travel Group Business Forum in Hong Kong at the weekend with delegates claiming that the carrier does not effectively communicate with the trade.

Cathay business development manager VIC/TAS  Jason Aghan admitted the airline is “fairly underresourced” but insisted the carrier is channelling its sales staff “in the right direction".

“In Australia, we would probably go and see agencies in metropolitan Melbourne, but the last time we were out in regional Victoria would have been 15 or 16 years ago,” he admitted.

“But our main priority is providing a point of contact – someone who can do things that can assist you with your business.”

Aghan stressed the airline is aware of the issues currently impacting its relationship with the trade and is working hard to rectify the situation.

“We need to do a lot of work on our accessibility side. My commitment would only be that we are going to start doing that,” he promised.

Sales and marketing manager Australia Julie Reid asserted to Travel Today that the airline is 100% committed to the trade which accounts for around 70% of its overall sales – a number that has remained steady in recent years.

“If an agent has got potential, if there’s volume there then of course we’ll go and see them,” she said.

But resources are an issue, she admitted. While there is 40-strong sales force, much of their time is taken up handling larger accounts, often in metropolitan areas.

“We need to get the balance better,” she conceded.

However, huge strides have been made in addressing the needs of the travel agent community in the 16 months since she tool up her current role, Reid continued.

The introduction of credit card payments for agents is a major step forward that has been well received by the trade.

The next step will be the updating of its CX Agents online tool in order to make it more user-friendly, and create more efficient lines of communication. That is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014 with Reid confident that will be a game changer for its relationships with the trade.

It is also working to make it easier for a travel agent to contact the call centre regarding a booking – currently restricted to within 48 hours of travel – although Reid stressed it would never be possible to completely remove restrictions, again because of resourcing.

Meanwhile, she confirmed that Cathay will specifically address the concerns expressed by ITG agents at the weekend by forwarding a letter to chief executive Tom Manwaring providing specific contacts in each state which will be forwarded on to each individual firm.

“At least then they’ll know who to pick up the phone to – then we’ll move on from there,” she said.

But she was keen to stress that the lines of communication are “absolutely” open to all agents.

“We welcome any contact from any travel agent – we want and need travel agent business.”