As Airlines fight to lower all possible costs one recent decisions is being fiercely fought by travel agents. United has decided to pass along the credit card fees of 2%-3% of the total air ticket to 28 travel agencies. These prices have always been paid by airlines, but United has asserted that it may be time for a change. If other airlines follow suit and are successful this could represent a savings of billions of dollars to the air industry.

A spokesman for united wrote in a letter to the US House of Representatives “in no way was this intended to be a broad move in the marketplace, as has been interpreted by outside organizations.” Yet representatives and CEO’s from the travel industry remain skeptical and feel that this is part of a bigger industry-wide move.

United spokesman Robin Urbanski has said the purpose of this move is “to improve travel agency performance and to more closely align them with us, to create a relationship that is mutually beneficial,”

As senators and CEO’s begin to weigh in on this fight it is becoming highly controversial and United’s motives have become suspect. All parties hope that this does not elevate into worse of a conflict than it already is.