British Airways acted differently, notifying the agents that they were requested to confirm the waiv

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British Airways acted differently, notifying the agents discount airline that they were requested to confirm the waiver of their contractual right under the IATA agreement, and that it would cancel discount airline the agreement with any agent who did not agree to this change.
On Thursday, February 20, 2014, the Israeli Central District Court issued a supplementary judgment in the travel agents' claim against British Airways. This followed a supplementary hearing held on the instructions of the Supreme Court, in light of the complaint by the travel agents that British Airways had put the agent's commission at "zero" but had continued to conduct its relations with the agents based on the IATA agreement. The agents argued in their claim that this was not possible and that as long as British Airways was adhering to the IATA agreement, it was obligated to pay agent's commissions. British Airways had notified the agents who sued it of the cancellation of the agreement, and the agents maintained that the cancellation had been done in bad faith and was unlawful.
In the judgment the court rejected the agents' claim against the cancellation of the agreement but accepted the agents' position discount airline that British Airways could not apply a policy discount airline of "both this and that" – that is, both cancel the commission and adhere to the IATA agreement.
In the Central District Court's judgment from February 20, 2014 pursuant to the claim of the Israel Association of Travel Agencies & Consultants and 117 travel agents in Israel against British Airways, the court clarified unequivocally that British Airways cannot remain bound by the IATA agreement with the travel agents but not remunerate a travel agent for his services discount airline to it . The court ruled furthermore that although British Airways is entitled to draw up a supplement to the IATA agreement, that would apply between it and the travel agents, this supplement could not result in the elimination of the agents' remuneration (zero commission) but could only include provisions as to the type of remuneration and its rate.
And in the words of the court in the judgment: " British Airways cannot grasp the stick at both ends (as the three airlines did in the Lufthansa case) and cancel discount airline the agent's commission while continuing to maintain agency relations. "
And the following was written as well in the judgment: " British Airways could not bring about a reduction in the commission to zero and continue to maintain the contractual relations between the parties, in accordance discount airline with its original intention. "
The court likewise ruled that " the airline discount airline cannot change the agreement in material matters ", but it is permitted " to terminate it between itself discount airline and any of the agents ", which according to the court is what British Airways actually did. This being so, the court found that British Airways' notice of the cancellation of its agreements with the travel agents had been lawful.
In response to the judgment, Yossi Fatael, the Managing Director of the Israel Association of Travel Agencies & Consultants, said that the court's clarification of what is permitted and what is forbidden in the IATA framework is highly important, since British Airways had acted contrary to the judgment. The judgment clarifies that airlines members of IATA must comply with their contractual undertakings toward the travel agents, and that any airline that wants to remain within the IATA contractual framework is obligated to pay the travel agents for their work.
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