Client Success Manager
“I’m Jay, Client Success Manager at YTC. My mission is to stream-line your corporate travel booking process and foster long-standing business relationships. I’m dedicated to delivering a super-efficient, stress-free service that we can all be proud of – get ready for effortless travel with YTC!”
LAST UPDATED
21 September 2026
The recent disruption across UK airports following the air traffic control system issue on 8 September was another reminder that you really discover the value of your travel management company when everything goes to plan.
The technical issue affecting NATS’ flight planning system resulted in hundreds of UK arriving and departing flights being cancelled, alongside widespread delays. The knock-on effects continued after the initial incident as airlines and airports worked to recover their schedules. Thankfully for our clients who were impacted – our travel experts stepped in.
WHEN TRAVEL GOES WRONG, THAT’S WHEN A TMC REALLY MATTERS
For leisure passengers, disruption can mean the start of a holiday being ruined or struggling to get home.
For a business traveller, the consequences can extend much further.
A cancelled flight might mean a missed client meeting, a production being delayed, an event without a key member of the team, or an employee stranded somewhere they weren’t expecting to be.
And when thousands of other passengers are simultaneously trying to find alternative flights, hotels and answers, solving the problem yourself becomes considerably harder.
A REAL EXAMPLE FROM THE RECENT AIRPORT DISRUPTION
We saw this first-hand at YTC.
Two travellers from one of our UK-based production company clients found themselves stranded at London Heathrow on the Tuesday evening. They were supposed to be travelling to North America, but following the air traffic control disruption, their plans had suddenly fallen apart.
At that point, there are essentially two problems.
The first is finding a way to get the travellers where they need to be.
The second – and something I think is sometimes underestimated – is removing as much of the stress and uncertainty from the travellers and their business as possible.
Our travel experts got to work.
They continued working through the available options into the early hours, while keeping both the travellers and their wider team informed about what was happening.
The following day, the team picked it straight back up and continued working through the obstacles with the airline.
Eventually, they got the result everyone wanted.
Both travellers secured seats on a flight to North America on Wednesday morning – at no additional cost to the client.
That’s the part of travel management that isn’t always visible when someone looks at the initial cost of booking a flight.
BOOKING TRAVEL IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Technology has transformed corporate travel, and that’s overwhelmingly a good thing.
We invest heavily in technology at YTC because travellers and travel managers should be able to book, manage and understand their travel programme quickly and easily.
But technology doesn’t remove the need for people.
In fact, I’d argue that disruption demonstrates why combining great technology with experienced travel professionals is so important.
When something goes wrong, you don’t necessarily want another notification telling you that your flight has been cancelled.
YOU WANT SOMEONE WORKING ON WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
You want someone who understands the booking, understands the traveller, knows the company’s requirements and can start investigating alternatives.
Sometimes that means finding another flight.
Sometimes it means challenging an airline or working through ticketing rules.
Sometimes it means changing a hotel, connection or ground transport.
And sometimes it simply means having a knowledgeable person at the other end of the phone who can tell a stranded traveller: we’re dealing with it.
That human reassurance matters.
Disruption isn’t going away
No TMC can prevent an air traffic control failure, bad weather, an airline cancellation or any of the other events capable of disrupting a journey.
WHAT WE CAN INFLUENCE IS HOW OUR CLIENTS EXPERIENCE THAT DISRUPTION
The Civil Aviation Authority CAA itself highlighted the importance of keeping passengers informed during the recent incident and reminded airlines of their responsibilities to provide care and rerouting where applicable.
For businesses, I think that raises a wider question.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PEOPLE WHEN THEIR TRAVEL PLANS FAIL?
Who do they call?
Who looks for alternatives?
Who understands the ticket rules?
Who keeps the traveller informed?
Who updates the business?
And who keeps working on the problem when the obvious options have disappeared?
Those questions should be part of any organisation’s travel strategy.
The real test of a travel partner
Of course, price matters.
Technology matters. Reporting matters. Content matters. Policy and traveller experience matter.
We spend a lot of time at YTC working on all of them.
But there is another measure of a travel management company that can be harder to put into a procurement spreadsheet:
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I REALLY NEED YOU?
The recent Heathrow example wasn’t a special service that we’d invented for a case study.
It was simply our team doing what they do.
They knew the client. They understood the situation. They took ownership of the problem and kept going until they’d found a solution.
That’s what I mean when I talk about real travel support.
Because booking the journey is only one part of managing business travel.
When disruption hits, that’s when the relationship with your TMC really matters.
SPEAK TO OUR TRAVEL EXPERTS
If you have any questions at all relating to our partnerships, accreditations or travel management company services in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at hello@ytc.co.uk or call us on 020 3805 4599
We look forward to booking your next trip with you!
