{{Unreferenced, date=March 2009
A General Sales Agent (GSA) is a
sales representative
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
for an
airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
in a specific country or region. Typically, the GSA is responsible for selling
cargo space
120px, View of the hold of a container ship
A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment.
Description
Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged ( bulk cargo). Access to ...
. A GSA will typically sell products from multiple airlines.
Airlines normally use a GSA in areas that it does not operate to or from, allowing them to have a sales presence in a country at lower cost than opening their own offices in short term. It may also use their services because the GSA has historical ties with travel and cargo agents which will be too time-consuming for the airline to build itself.
The GSA receives a
commission
Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...
of around 3–5% on all revenue tickets and unit of cargo space sold in the region that it represents.
All costs related to running the GSA's business are the responsibility of the GSA including insurance, rent, general office expenses and any travel within the country or region needed to promote and sell the product.
Airline tickets
Travel agencies