United's tentative agreement with its pilots is almost the best
news we've had all summer. It's also notable that United's ugly
operational problems had already led to some progress in the
self-awareness department, when United stopped commission recalls
on refunded tickets as a gesture of good will to agents.
United actually admitted that it owed a debt of gratitude to
travel agents all over the country for dealing with a customer
service crisis that originated in Elk Grove, Ill. Coming from
aviation's pre-eminent commission cutter, that counts as
progress.
When Travel Services International, the nation's largest cruise
retailer, cuts a deal with Renaissance Cruises to bury the hatchet,
we can take it as a signal that Renaissance is making progress in
rehabilitating its relationship with the trade.
It was a mere two years ago that some officials at TSI were
openly using words like "boycott" in reaction to the cruise line's
anti-agent antics.
Now Renaissance is a "preferred supplier" of the travel company
that sells more cruises than any other. That's progress, too.
The Transportation Secretary invited the heads of several major
airlines and labor unions to a "summit meeting" on delays, and even
agreed on some steps to address some air traffic control
problems.
That's also progress, and to top it off, the DOT demonstrated a
capacity for self-improvement by convening a second meeting with
what the DOT called "aviation industry stakeholders" who were left
out of the first session. Travel agents made the cut this time, as
the list of consumer and industry invitees included ASTA, ARTA, AAA
and Woodside.
We were pleasantly reminded of one of the Beatles' lyrics,
"You've got to admit it's getting better."
But didn't they also say, "Can't get much worse?"