Travel Industry Leaders Gather to Strategize Plans for the New Administration and Air Travel Competition

The American Society of  Travel  Advisors (ASTA) has called upon the travel industry's most influential stakeholders, its Corporate Advisory Council, to help lay the groundwork for working with the incoming U.S. presidential administration.

In particular, ASTA said in a statement released today that its advisory council has provided the organization with strategic direction and input for its response to the Departments of Transportation and Justice's recently announced Request for Information (RFI) relating to the state of competition in air travel.

“The RFI was announced on October 24, less than two weeks before the election, and with a change in administration forthcoming in January, the fate of the RFI is uncertain,” says the ASTA statement.

The industry organization also pointed out that there’s no clear understanding over what use the two agencies, with new political leadership, would make of the information they gather.

“It stands to reason that it’s unlikely the new Administration will use the information to propose new rules,” Zane Kerby, president and CEO of ASTA, said in the statement.

“Nonetheless, the RFI provides ASTA, as a global trade organization that represents the business of selling travel, an opportunity to reinforce its position on airline competition and the essential role that leisure and corporate travel agencies play in the overall travel economy,” Kerby added.

ASTA, which represents travel professionals and is a global advocate for travel agencies, formally raised concerns regarding competition in air travel to the attention of the two government agencies more than a year ago.

ASTA also said it welcomed the opportunity presented by the RFI to share its members’ views on this critically important issue.
 
“There's a lot to be said for ASTA's efforts in this,” Kerby added. “That’s why we’re going to spend more time with our advisory council to thoughtfully pull our comments together, with an emphasis on areas where travel agencies have a unique perspective, as well as a plan for countering the arguments that we believe will be submitted from the airlines and others.”

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