If you want to support the BTC version of the position then contact them. Here is the email below they have sent out.
CAUTION. And this is a general admonition for anyone joining a cause. Be very careful how you determine what you are signing up for. Read the fine print and make sure that your actual position is used correctly not necessarily bent for other purposes. Some organizations have been known to list the number of respondents as the number of supporters. Don't be caught in that trap.
The Professor was dis-invited because my credentials as a Travel Manager (running a budget that I do) was disallowed as insufficient when considering the other functions as a blogger and a consultant as well as being an acting executive for a technology company.
I provide this unadulterated.
BTC News Wire
Dear TMC Executives and Corporate Travel Managers,
Business Travel Coalition (BTC) has been working on the airline ancillary fee issue during the past year in the U.S. and Europe, including testifying before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Aviation, and meeting with U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. We also delivered a signatory letter signed by TMC executives and travel managers in Europe and North America to Secretary LaHood as well as a letter signed by 50,000 concerned airline passengers.
Like many of you, I suspect, BTC supports the airline ancillary fees-model so long as TMCs and corporate travel programs have real-time access to complete, accurate and transactable ancillary fee data. TMCs and corporations clearly understand the importance of a healthy airline industry. However, this data is necessary for efficient comparison-shopping and to enable the capture of all-important purchasing data for corporate travel program measurement and management. Without the data travelers have no ability to compare apples-to-apples all-in fares and are often surprised with fees, while corporate travel programs are sub-optimized.
Some airlines have been open to collaboration in this area because they respect the requirements of modern travel management and appear to be earnestly interested in improving their revenue position by selling additional products and services. Others have not been so open, forcing Washington and Brussels to take a closer look at consumer protections. Unfortunately, recent developments in the U.S. have elevated concerns among corporate travel managers, many of whom have communicated with BTC and asked for its continued advocacy in this area.
I would like to invite you to join an online community BTC has created for TMC executives and corporate travel managers from around the world so that you can stay close to news and developments in this area and participate in debate aimed at informing public policy positions in Brussels and Washington. We can all learn from informed discussions. There is no cost to join.
If you are interested in participating in this collaborative initiative, simply respond to this email and registration instructions will be forwarded to you. You must be either a TMC executive or corporate travel manager and your email address must match the URL of your organization.
If you received this email as a GDS please consider forwarding it to customers who are TMC subscribers or corporate travel managers; if a TMC or OTA, please forward to customers who are corporate travel managers.
Kind regards,
Kevin Mitchell
Chairman
Business Travel Coalition
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