In the wake of failing talks between the union, Aer Lingus, the Irish national carrier has announced to make compulsory redundancies and route cuts.

The carrier has clearly stated that it would soon start the redundancy process, the number of which could even reach up to 1000.

The decision of executing route cuts and making abominable redundancies is the result of non reaching of an agreement between the airline and the union. The union that represents the pilots and cabin crew could not lay out a middle way to the carrier-imposed deadline of November 30.

The Irish carrier also divulged that in an attempt to restructure the airline, it has to save €97m. The Transformation Plan will lead to job losses and route cuts.

The carrier’s ceo Christoph Mueller,, said the talks had “narrowed the gap with most union groups on the achievement of sustainable savings and this has brought us very close to signature with them.”

He however said the exceptions were the Irish Airline Pilots Association and to a lesser extent the cabin crew.

He added: “Instead of sustainable savings of a structural nature, only temporary savings over a short few years were offered by IALPA.

“Aer Lingus was asked for very high compensation in return.

“Our pilot compensation and productivity remains out of line with the compensation and productivity of our competitors.”

Mr Mueller said most staff accepted the fact that the airline had to make “significant and urgent change if it is to have an independent and successful financial future.”

He said: “The Board and Management will now move to reduce capacity, further eliminating routes which are loss making as a result of our high cost base.

“This will result in the operation of fewer aircraft, which in turn will lead to additional redundancies beyond those included in the Transformation Plan.

“It is very likely that these redundancies will commence immediately and will be compulsory.”

The IALPA was not available for comment.

The Transformation Plan was drawn up post the arrival of Mr Mueller in the autumn and put to action in October. It clearly chalks out that the airline targeted to shed €74m in staff costs and €23m in non-staff outgoings.

The plan would lead to a whopping one fifth of its employees quiting the carrier.

The airline told staff at the time: “While the preference will be for such redundancies to be on a voluntary basis, compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out.

Aer Lingus reported a 9.7% dip in its revenue, in the Q3 results that was announced last month.

It also said that the cash flow since the end of December 2008 had declined 38.8% to €399.9m by the end of September.

The drop was due in part to €107m re-structuring costs and a final payment for two new A330 aircraft.

In an unanimous request made to the incoming EC commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas on 2nd Dec ’09, it has been urged by the distinctive bodies representing the different sectors of the travel industry that Mr Kallas should mull over setting up a Stakeholder Summit for the aviation industry early in the New Year.

The request that was made in the form of a letter, was signed by the representatives of the various bodies that include – the consumers, airlines and travel buyers.

These bodies are represented by the Association of European Airlines, the International Airline Passengers’ Association and the business travel associations from the UK, Ireland, Belgium and Finland.

BTC (Business Travel Coalition) was the one to set the request letter.

It urged Mr Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, that “The crisis gripping the airline industry is without precedent in the history of commercial aviation.

“We are deeply concerned about this perilous financial state of affairs and the loss of jobs and connectivity of mid-size communities to important European and global business centers.

“All opportunities to ease current and proposed regulatory burdens and to increase efficiency for European airlines must be reviewed with the greatest sense of urgency.

“A socially and ecologically sustainable civil aviation industry should be an important goal for Europe.”

Chairman of the BTC, Kevin Mitchell said that the US transport secretary, Ray LaHood, had already formed a committee on the future of the American industry.

He added: “We believe stakeholders in North America and Europe would benefit if Washington and Brussels conducted parallel problem-solving processes as airline alliances, among other interlinked commercial aviation elements, have necessitated a harmonized approach to regulatory regimes.

“What’s more, a corresponding process would provide the opportunity for the exchange of best practices with respect to including all stakeholders’ interests in smart air transportation policy development and regulatory oversight.”

In a bid to ascertain the impact of e-communications on the travel industry business, ITM (Institute of travel and meetings) has announced the launch of a new study.

The study is slated to commence next year and will mull over the various factors that ITM thinks are causing “fundamental behavioral change in the ways businesses interact”.

The institute is a known name in Britain and boasts of an array of members whose total annual travel spend is around £34bn. ITM states that the possible factors include -

• the influence of the environmental and wider sustainability

• the increased focus on Return on Investment (ROI) or Return on Objectives (ROO)

• the growing need for duty of care and a work/life balance.

Along with the above mentioned factors, ITM stated that it would also like to assess the “impact of generational difference and the rising use of technology to interact by the ‘Digital Native’.
It said that people belonging to this generation are more tech savvy and know about the digital medium as they have grown up with it.
The study will also take in to account the differences between attitudes in the private and public sector and also the “appropriate meeting mode” that should be adopted by the business, which were also being tried in some of the innovative travel programmes and are now being drawn up.
There are also a number of questions that the institute wants to pose in the research. These are – the value of face to face meetings, future use of technology, the value of video conferencing and its role in the industry, what influence will HR matters have and what can suppliers do to create a better industry model.
Caroline Strachan, ITM’s chairman and category lead for Astra Zeneca, said: “There is much talk about technology versus face-to-face so we think it’s important to undertake a quality study on what the true value of face-to-face meetings are and what part technology will play.
“We are not looking to promote travel over technology or vice versa, but take a totally independent view to assess what the future might look like.”
The research is schemed to be conducted by Argate, the research partner of ITM.
ITM’s head of marketing, Diane Steed, said: “To reinforce this independence we are not looking for commissioning sponsors who will benefit from the promotion of technology, rather we’re looking for suppliers who stand to lose at present from the use of technology over travel.
“The results will give these companies a real insight into their future market and how they can adapt to survive and even thrive in the brave new world we envisage.”

The representatives of Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and other travel giants Thomas Cook and TUI, on the occasion of European parliament dinner on Nov 18, have called on the European Policy makers to introduce a new directive that would look after the tourist accommodation safety.

ABTA and FTO ( Federation of Tour Operators) have presented a report that suggests that the holidaymakers require accommodation safety while they are away from home. The tourist accommodation safety directive will touch upon the areas like gas, fire, and public health and infections, that could exert intense impact on the tourists.

The report also indicates that the tourists safety standards as in practice are not actually implemented evenly throughout the European Union. It also stated that there is a need to secure better and more effective data collection techniques that would ensure that the number of tourist accommodation incidents taking place across Europe are properly and accurately recorded.

The yet to launch directive is also expected to ensure an even gas and fire safety, and public health co-operation standards to be executed all across Europe.

Mark Tanzer, the chief executive of ABTA said: “This project was initiated to demonstrate that tour operators are working in a very ‘uneven’ European safety market.

“For too long, the uneven application of safety laws across Europe has been accepted by the European Union. Our message in Brussels is that we need all tourist accommodation in Europe to hit minimum safety levels, and we will continue to push for a new directive that brings standards up to a common, acceptable level.”

The delegation also met with Arlene McCarthy UK MEP, the former chairwoman of the Internal Market and Consumer Affairs Committee in the European Parliament; senior figures from the European Commission; and representatives of the travel industry in Brussels.

UK MEP Linda Cavan, commented on the launch of the event as: “I am pleased to support the ABTA/FTO initiative to improve tourist accommodation safety.

“Introducing new common standards is a long process that could take a decade. This means it is vital that legislation is started as soon as possible.

“I will continue to support ABTA and the FTO in their lobbying efforts, and am calling on other MEPs from across Europe to back the campaign that Arlene McCarthy and myself have been leading in the European Parliament for a new directive on tourist accommodation safety.”

The launch of the gas safety and public health reports in the Houses of Parliament took place post Brussels visit last month.

Known for its excellence in making huge cruise ships, the mass market liner Royal Caribbean International has again set a benchmark by rolling out yet another landmark vessel named ‘Oasis of the seas’. The ship is enormously huge and weighs 225,000 tons. With its gigantic looks and world class comforts the ship has become the ‘world’s biggest cruiseship’. The mega ship is truly a perfect holiday option with its number of entertainment measures and is equally blissful for the agents as it will augment their sale volumes.

The launch of the new ship is viewed differently by different travel agents. According to Jason Peters, sales director, Creative Cruises, Teddington said: “You can’t help but marvel at Oasis of the Seas, but whether it’s appropriate for an individual client is another matter. Agents have got to understand this is a big ship and very different from anything else. The nice thing is that it is big enough to allow clients to pick out and enjoy the parts that suit them. The only thing I don’t like is you have to be so organized and pre-book restaurants and entertainment.”

Going by what Clare Dudley, cruise development manager, Fred Olsen Group, Ipswich said on the launch of the ‘Oasis of the seas’, “I didn’t expect to like Oasis. I thought it would be too big, too corny and too over the top, but I love it. But it’s a floating resort more than a ship, so you have got to sell it to the right person. Families, couples, hen and stag groups, and a younger audience, or at least people who want lots of things to do. It’s not for people who want a cruise experience. My concern is that agents will mis-sell, it as it’s not even right for every past Royal Caribbean passenger.”

Another noteworthy and prominent bigwig of the travel fraternity, Phil Nuttall, managing director, the Cruise Village, Blackpool said “This is fantastic and if it’s sold correctly we could have a winner on our hands. My fear is that agents will sell it on the wow factor, but people will come away disappointed because they’ve not been able to see shows or eat in the specialty restaurants. They have to be organized and pre-book these things, like with Disney. It’s fine, but only if they understand that. I would prefer it if they limited people to pre-booking two shows and two restaurants. Then everyone gets a chance to experience what’s on offer.”

The Association Of Independent tour operators (AITO) has been lashed for not conceding to the norms set to promote responsible tourism in UK. Responsible tourism is needed for the greener and healthier environment but the AITO fails to accomplish the drive as the members of the association are not ready to give up their own commercial interests for the common interest of the group. Rather they are putting their own commercial interests first.

Delivering a speech at the AITO conference in Cochin, Kerala, professor of responsible tourism management and director of the International Center for Responsible Tourism, professor Harold Goodwin, said that a remarkable number of tourists are getting increasingly concerned about the growing climatic disorders and environmental issues. Stats state that 38% of the tourists in 2008 expressed their guilt for the impact their holidays had on the local region. The number was only 17% in 1999.

He also blamed the association in his speech and said that it is the association that acts indifferent about the issue. He also believed that the association is also losing a commercial advantage by not demonstrating that its members have greater responsible tourism credentials.

Goodwin said: “Consumers don’t want to feel guilty about the product they’ve been sold, they don’t want to come back and think they’ve made the destination worse by going there.

“It (AITO’s dedication to responsible tourism) allows you to compete on something other than price and you will lose if you’re trying to compete on price with the big guys.

“AITO comprises the most sustainable collection of travel companies but you’re not getting the message out there; you’re not doing extra marketing.

“If you don’t do it you’re going to be eclipsed by the ABTAs and the FTOs. You need to share that good news story with the consumers so they can respond to that.”

AITO’s responsible tourism committee’s chairman and the managing director of Rainbow Holidays, Roger Diski said that the drive nosedived because of the lack of consensus and coordination amongst the association’s members. He said the association allowed the commercial interests of the members to overule responsible tourism commitments.

He further added: “I don’t think that particularly means the responsible tourism committee isn’t doing its job; we’ve been given an impossible task and companies such as the Co-operative, TUI and Thomas Cook are now going to steal the agenda.

“There’s not enough cash for the AITO responsible tourism committee budget.

“When we’ve got 160 company members all promoting themselves and their own messages, they’re not really going to contribute to an AITO message, particularly when many of the other companies are their competitors.”

AITO chairman, Derek Moore also acceded to the fact that some of the association’s members had been slow to accept the healthy and ethical travel ways and said the association is working to change this.

He added: “Some members of AITO in the past have perhaps been less convinced over the benefits of taking a more responsible approach.

“Over the next 12 months we want to strongly promote to our members the idea of being accredited in the AITO responsible tourism accreditation scheme. We want to bring that more to the fore in what AITO does.”

The Association Of Independent tour operators (AITO) has been lashed for not conceding to the norms set to promote responsible tourism in UK. Responsible tourism is needed for the greener and healthier environment but the AITO fails to accomplish the drive as the members of the association are not ready to give up their own commercial interests for the common interest of the group. Rather they are putting their own commercial interests first.

Delivering a speech at the AITO conference in Cochin, Kerala, professor of responsible tourism management and director of the International Center for Responsible Tourism, professor Harold Goodwin, said that a remarkable number of tourists are getting increasingly concerned about the growing climatic disorders and environmental issues. Stats state that 38% of the tourists in 2008 expressed their guilt for the impact their holidays had on the local region. The number was only 17% in 1999.

He also blamed the association in his speech and said that it is the association that acts indifferent about the issue. He also believed that the association is also losing a commercial advantage by not demonstrating that its members have greater responsible tourism credentials.

Goodwin said: “Consumers don’t want to feel guilty about the product they’ve been sold, they don’t want to come back and think they’ve made the destination worse by going there.

“It (AITO’s dedication to responsible tourism) allows you to compete on something other than price and you will lose if you’re trying to compete on price with the big guys.

“AITO comprises the most sustainable collection of travel companies but you’re not getting the message out there; you’re not doing extra marketing.

“If you don’t do it you’re going to be eclipsed by the ABTAs and the FTOs. You need to share that good news story with the consumers so they can respond to that.”

AITO’s responsible tourism committee’s chairman and the managing director of Rainbow Holidays, Roger Diski said that the drive nosedived because of the lack of consensus and coordination amongst the association’s members. He said the association allowed the commercial interests of the members to overule responsible tourism commitments.

He further added: “I don’t think that particularly means the responsible tourism committee isn’t doing its job; we’ve been given an impossible task and companies such as the Co-operative, TUI and Thomas Cook are now going to steal the agenda.

“There’s not enough cash for the AITO responsible tourism committee budget.

“When we’ve got 160 company members all promoting themselves and their own messages, they’re not really going to contribute to an AITO message, particularly when many of the other companies are their competitors.”

AITO chairman, Derek Moore also acceded to the fact that some of the association’s members had been slow to accept the healthy and ethical travel ways and said the association is working to change this.

He added: “Some members of AITO in the past have perhaps been less convinced over the benefits of taking a more responsible approach.

“Over the next 12 months we want to strongly promote to our members the idea of being accredited in the AITO responsible tourism accreditation scheme. We want to bring that more to the fore in what AITO does.”

The union of crew members at BA, Unite has embarked upon a strike ballot today. Unite has already declared about its intentions in its earlier announcements. The strike ballot has agitated the BA’s top management, in the wake of which the CEO, Willie Walsh has called for a meeting with the joint general secretaries of the Unite union later this week.

The company at the same time is not reluctant in implementing the controversial structural changes it had announced not long past. The changes are touted as one of the primary reasons of the unrest amongst the crew members. The members are not willing to accept them and the company, on the contrary, is all set to implement them.

Going by a statement issued by BA, the company had already started executing the changes that calls for cutting the number of staff on Boeing 747 flights from 15 to 14. There have been ‘no problems’ in the implementation of the changes so far, he concurred.

The strike ballot that has begun today is scheduled to carry on till Dec 14. After which the union sees strong possibility of strike from Dec 21, provided the ballot result reveals a majority of crew members backing stoppages.

Mr Walsh wrote to Unite’s joint leaders Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley suggesting new meeting.

The meeting called by the CEO is scheduled to take place later this week , probably at British Airways headquarters near Heathrow, divulged the BA spokesperson.

Similar meetings between the three conspicuous officials with the same agenda were also held in the past, but in vain. As they did not resolve the prolonged dispute between the crew members and the management over redundancies and savings at the loss making carrier.

The airline have been observing constant talks between the two parties for months now, but it could not serve the purpose. There were times when external help was sought from UK arbitration service ACAS to resolve the dispute. But things don’t seem to change at all.

In an recent announcement made by the airline, it has indicated about its plans to make the equivalent of 3,000 jobs redundant with staff who wished to leave or switch to part time working.

The other announcements that sparked the agitation further more include a pay freeze and the cut in staff on the 747s.

Unite concurred that it has already issued the ballot papers today to its 12,000 crew members, and is awaiting results that are due on Dec 14.

The airline also expressed its concern for the “far reaching changes” that will certainly put 747 staff under greater stress and pressure. The abominable situation will eventually have a “negative impact on health and safety” of the staff members and affect the service to passengers.

Brian Boyd, Unite’s national officer for aviation, said: “The way to deliver change is through negotiation, not imposition.

“Of course the cabin crew are angry; they care passionately about this business but feel they are not being listened to on serious matters of service delivery.

“This business is all about its customers and the crew do not want them to suffer as a result of these changes.

He added: “We ask British Airways to signal that it is willing to abandon its plans to impose change and work with us on a way forward, one which delivers for passengers, shareholders and the workforce.

“Then we could begin to tackle the roots of this damaging dispute and find a way forward.”

The union also indicated that it is in no mood to withdraw the legal action that Unite resorted to against BA.

It was refused an injunction to stop BA making the changes, but the dispute will now go to a full hearing in the New Year.

Steve Turner, also a national officer for aviation for the union, said it was “so concerned about the impact of these cuts on both crew and paying customers, that we have instructed employment specialists to establish an independent system to monitor their impact over the coming period.”

Walsh however, tried to inhibit the union from resorting to strike ballot by saying that structural change was necessary to secure long term profitability for the airline.

BA, which announced a £4.2bn merger with Iberia last week, posted a pre-tax loss of £292m for April to September earlier this month.

The airline has said it expects to make an annual loss this financial year.

At the heels of the economic downturn that has badly impacted the travel industry of UK, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) has called for a stakeholder summit on the European aviation industry on 17th Nov ’09.

The AEA revealed the latest traffic figures that disappointed the whole of travel industry. The figures show that there has been “no sign of improvement” in the traffic numbers ever since the industry entered in to its “longest and deepest business downturn in its history”.

The Association of European airlines UK comprises of the most desirable and leading legacy carriers of the country. It said that the traffic figures for the year quoted by it were “locked-in to a trend line about 2% below last year’s already dismal figures”.

However these “paled into insignificance” when compared with a 15% fall in average ticket price per kilometer.

Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, the secretary general of AEA, said the disappointing traffic figures signifies that said that the foundation of the European aviation industry were ‘crumbling’.

He added: “Portions of our industry are close to collapse – indeed, we have seen failures among premium carriers, leisure carriers, no-frills and cargo airlines.

“Some network airlines are ceasing to exist as independent entities. Others are exiting markets that they will not re-enter. Secondary markets are losing service.

“Tens of thousands of people employed by or sustained by the airlines are losing their jobs.”

Schulte-Strathaus also said that in order to recoil the industry to its normal form it is important to take significant reconciling measures. And it is the policy makers that can cast this spell. He indicated that looking at the situation, it seems that the policy makers now are only left with two options, either to see the industry struggle to come out of this soup or to frame such effective policies that could pull back the industry and facilitate speed recovery.

He also indicated that Americans are proactive as they have already identified the problem way ahead . And on “grasping the severity of the crisis” they have already called a stakeholder forum and are scheming to set up a committee to look at the future of the industry.

He added: “Decision-makers must realize that a key European resource is under threat and steps must be taken – now – to act positively and decisively to create the conditions under which prosperity can be restored as quickly as possible.

“I invite the European Commission to follow the example of their US counterparts and put in place a structured dialogue with stakeholders, to create the policy which will safeguard the benefits that aviation brings to Europe’s citizens and businesses.”

At the Hays Independence Group conference held in Egypt, the managing director of Hays Travel, John Hays stated that the travel agents should always make use of the opportunity of procuring the customers’ database that belonged to any failed travel agency. The database will help them in discovering a range of potential and untapped customers and hence help in building and strengthening their business.

He said in his speech at the conference that: “If you get the opportunity, then buy the databases. If one of your competitors fails, it’s worth a phone call or a knock on the door and to ask if they will sell you their customer list.”

Hays also asserted that marketing of product is an effective means of boosting business provided it is done correctly. It is wise to resort to any marketing stint only after carefully understanding the needs and requirements of the client, so that it does not bounce back. He added: “You have got to make sure what you send out is clean and relevant. You are building the relationship with the client. Sending the wrong type of email out will have a negative impact on your brand.”

He also reiterated that the agents should be careful about their brand’s reputation in the market. He warned the agents to not to let their brand name contaminate in the market by mere association with the failed agency. He quoted an instance of his own purchase of the failed travel agency named Freedom Direct Holidays in April this year and said: “You have to ask yourself, does your brand get contaminated? That certainly happened to us with Freedom Direct.”

Hays also concurred that besides living in a digital world he still embraces the high-street travel agent model. He told delegates: “I am a passionate advocate of the high street. I see a future for face-to-face, high-street retailing.”

He asserted that though we will live in a digital era with internet and machines all around us but there is still no surety of internet taking over 100 % distribution of the industry. Internet is a faceless medium , where business is done with no personal touch. But in the physical setting issues can be addressed properly and services can be offered with a sense of feel. He says that agents in order to increase and flourish their business should think of other effective alternatives like adding value through personal service that also differentiates them from the other players. In order to successfully compete with the rivals, the agents on the high street are required to be immensely price competitive and should always be ready with an array of alternative products that can be offered with the main package.