Various travel agent associations have spoken against a European Commission decision to get rid of parent carriers of computer reservation systems (CRSs) in Europe.
The measure has not yet gone through but was discussed at the Directorate-General for Transport and Energy, or DG TREN.
It has been enough for groups such as the Airline Passengers Association (IAPA), the Netherlands Association for Travel Management, the Business Travel Coalition and others to speak out defending such parent carriers.
According to these consumer watchdog groups, the decision against parent carriers would be 'exposing business and leisure consumers to biased information and higher prices'.
The groups further claimed that the move would severely damage the EU Code of Conduct.
'What is especially mystifying is that this secret decision, that would undermine completely the effectiveness of the Code, is being considered while a Commission public consultation is being held that has overwhelmingly confirmed that these basic protections are needed and should apply to all carriers with ownership shares in CRSs,' said Nancy McKinley director of consumer & industry affairs for IAPA.
Travel agent representatives met with DG Tren back in June, but now argue that the decision to change the definition of parent carriers was made in recent days and without their consultation
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