Airline ticket and service agents (NOC 6523)

Nature of work

Airline ticket and service agents issue tickets, provide fare quotations, make reservations, conduct passenger check-in, trace missing baggage, arrange for cargo shipments and perform other related customer service duties to assist airline passengers. Airline ticket and service agents are employed by airline companies. Load planners, who plan the positioning of cargo on aircraft, are also included in this unit group.

Main duties

The following is a summary of main duties for some occupations in this unit group:
- Airline passenger and ticket agents help customers plan travel time and routes, prepare and issue tickets, assign seats, prepare boarding passes, check baggage, attend boarding gates, assist pre-boarding passengers and provide information on fares and flight schedules and routes.
- Airline baggage agents trace lost, delayed or misdirected baggage for customers.
- Airline cargo agents weigh cargo and compute freight costs, calculate charges for services and insurance, process bills of lading, cargo manifests and other documents, trace lost or misdirected cargo and maintain shipping and other records.
- Continued…
- Airline reservation agents reserve seats for tour companies, travel agencies, wholesalers and the general public using computerized systems, provide information on airline passengers and process mileage points.
- Airline station agents complete pre-flight documents regarding passenger and cargo load, catering count, special requests and other flight information and relay operational messages to operations control and downline stations. They also perform duties of ticket, baggage and cargo agents.
- Airline load planners calculate load weights for compartments of aircraft using charts and computers and plan load to distribute and balance cargo.

Employment requirements

• * Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• * Several weeks of on-the-job and classroom training are provided for all occupations in this unit group.
• * Airline station agents usually require experience as a ticket, baggage or cargo agent.
• * Load planners require a restricted radio operator's licence and usually require airline operations experience.