Conway Travel Agency Asks for Help
WASHINGTON – Employees of a North Conway travel agency sent a letter to Representative John E. Sununu yesterday, pleading for help.
In the letter, Holly A. Gaudette-Fitch, the owner of Saco Travel, asked that travel agencies not be forgotten as Congress works to pass a federal aid package to save the nation’s airlines from economic disaster after Tuesday’s terrorist hijackings.
“The Nation’s travel agencies face and unprecedented financial crisis,” the letter read. “It is imperative that Congress include travel agencies in any financial relief legislation for the airline industry.”
“We are hoping that Mr. Sununu can bring up the plight of the travel agencies,” said Loretta Chauvin, an employee at Saco. “We are working in conjunction with airlines, hotels, cruises. If they’re affected, we’re affected.”
Sununu’s spokesperson said the Congressman has received the letter, and will be forwarding it to the administration through Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. He also plans on sending a copy to former Chairman of the Appropriations Committee Don Young.
Sununu said he agrees that travel agents should be included in discussions on any financial relief legislation.
The letter, based on a form letter from the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), included a list of requests.
If airlines receive federal aid, ASTA agents want at least 4 billion dollars of aid in the form of grants and no-interest loans. They requested no further reductions in travel agent compensation while airlines are receiving federal aid, and asked for the right to observe all immunized airline discussions. They also asked that federal aid be strictly limited to use for airline operations and customer service, not marketing or other activities.
ASTA also asked that all fares be available through all distribution channels, that state laws are still used to resolve disputes with airlines, and for passengers to be provided with timely and accurate reasons for delay.
Since the terrorist attacks, many airlines have been laying off workers. United Airlines has said they plan to lay off 20,000 workers. U.S. Airways could lay off 11,000 employees. Continental Airlines said it is cutting 12,000 jobs, and Virgin Atlantic may cut 1,200 jobs. And most recently, Boeing, the world’s prime jet maker, plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs. Travel agencies will be directly affected, according to ASTA.
Chauvin said Saco, located on Seavy Street, only employs three people. It is this type of local agency that are presented as perhaps among the most vulnerable in the letter.
“We are small, family-owned businesses,” Gaudette-Fitch wrote. “Many of us have already been forced to lay off staff. Others face immediate bankruptcy.”
The letter noted that Saco supports assisting airlines if the government deems it necessary, but stressed that travel agencies should be included in the equation since they provide vital services as well.
Chauvin said she added a sentence to the letter before sending it, pointing out that travel agencies provide a primary phase of security screening.
“When people come to us, we know the people for the most part,” she said. “And if we don’t know them already, we can ask them questions. Then if any red flags go up, we can pass along that information.”
Chauvin said that travel agencies are the advocates for the consumers. “If the travel agent is not supported in conjunction with the airlines, that consumer support could disappear.”
In the week since the suicide hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, thousands of passengers have been displaced and delayed.
