These eventual cuts will be as good an indicator as any of the pandemic's impact on corporate travel volumes for 2021. Other agencies, in other regions with less strict employment legislation, may not be that far behind.
It's an updated version of the classic bait-and-switch, and any travel business that comes in will be welcome after the Ebix deal fell through earlier this year.
From the outside, it seems the travel management company has gone into survival mode. Post-Covid, it will look a lot leaner, and more attractive to potential buyers.
There could be a trickle-down effect from the elimination of fees to corporate travel management, but it’s unlikely business passengers were front of mind when the airlines made the call.
What prompted actor Will Smith to invest in travel tech startup TravelBank? And what can other companies learn from the way the company has handled the pandemic so far?
With a narrowing pool of viable customers, in the form of governments and other essential service providers, the competition's going to be tough out there.