BA said that about 65% of UK agents had signed and returned its letter which asks them to confirm that the airline's move to zero commission is within IATA rules.
A spokesperson for Britain's national carrier said that all the “key” agencies had signed up and it was now sending out “chaser” letters to agents who had not replied.
BA was continuing with its plan to introduce zero commission from May 1, the spokesperson said.
BA declined to say which agents had signed or whether any were business travel agents.
Philip Carlisle, chief executive of the Guild of Travel Management Companies, said it had advised its members that it was “ultimately down to their commercial decision” as to whether they signed or not.
“Should they do so and BA worsens the conditions, they would still have the legal right to challenge them hereafter,” Mr Carlisle said.
However a different story was emerging in that BA apparently sent its letter, which demanded that agents sign or be barred from selling BA tickets, to every IATA member. This meant that some agencies got 14 or 15 letters.
“The original deadline was February 18 but I don't know how many letters BA had got by then. They have now put the deadline back to March 11," one agent told BTE.
“People did not know whether to sign it or not. In view of the gravity of the letter, it should only have been signed by someone from head office. The feeling is that BA totally screwed up as well as mishandling the whole event.”