ARC Rolls Out Updated Training
by Michele McDonald /The Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) completed a major overhaul of its Specialist Training & Certification Program.
Lauri Reishus, ARC’s vice president and chief operating officer, said the changes improve both the user experience and the content.
They eliminate the requirement to take the same training course and examination every four years, replacing it with new training modules that will add more value.
The course and the exam also have been updated, Reishus said.
Options
The initial training and certification, if done at ARC headquarters in Washington D.C., is a three-day course with the exam on the fourth day.
Travel agents also have the option of taking the course online.
ARC estimates that the online training takes about eight hours and the exam takes about 90 minutes, according to Reishus.
Enhancing skills
“Once you master it, the ticket reporting process doesn’t change that much,” she said, so repeating the identical process every four years wasn’t providing much of a benefit.
Instead, the ARC specialist will be required to complete an annual online continuing education module which includes assessment questions.
The modules will be about one hour in length and will be designed to enhance the specialist’s knowledge and skills.
The first, which is available at arconlinetraining.com, is on fraud prevention. More modules will be added throughout the year.
Responding to agents
Reishus said the topics will reflect the feedback ARC has received from agents about what they need to know.
“They’ll include topics like advanced tips and shortcuts on IAR [Interactive Agency Reporting], tips on complicated exchanges and best practices in preventing debit memos,” she said.
“These are all in response to agents’ requests, and they’re long overdue.”
ARC plans to create a menu of module options so agents can pick what is most relevant to them.
‘A better user experience’
That’s another piece of the makeover, Reishus said: improved content. “We want to provide better information in a way that is respectful of their time.”
ARC is using a new vendor online to provide more modern online training modules, she said. “It’s a much better user experience.”
As part of the ARC agency agreement, every agency that issues airline tickets is required to have an ARC specialist.