Below is a transcript of Gail's article in the Plain Dealer. To read the article on cleveland.com Click Here.

Travel agent Gail Cochran's business was on the line.

In August 2001, as Internet ticket sales continued to climb, the airlines announced another in a series of cuts in the commissions they paid travel agents.  A month later came 9/11, and the entire travel industry went into a tailspin. And six months after that, the still-reeling airlines stopped paying any commissions at all.

Cochran, president of Flite II Travel American Express in Beachwood, had to figure out a way to survive.

"Everything hit around the same time," she recalled. "I made up my mind: I'm losing on airline tickets, [so] I have to compensate in some other way."  Her agency became one of the first in Greater Cleveland to charge travelers a fee for arranging their trips. Suddenly, what used to be free cost $35. Customers gradually accepted the change. "Otherwise," she said, "we wouldn't be here."
 
Though Cochran succeeded in reinventing her business, many other travel agencies that were unable to adapt went belly up. Cochran runs through a litany of the departed.  "On Chagrin Boulevard alone, from Warrensville Center Road to Lander Road, there were 16 travel agencies. Now there are seven. On Cedar Road, there were about 10. Now they're all gone."

When Cochran decided to become a travel agent 30 years ago, she couldn't give her services away. Applying at one agency after another, she tried to impress the owners with her passion for travel and her new credentials from a 10-week industry course. They saw a longtime homemaker with no experience. She offered to volunteer to get some experience. Nobody even wanted a volunteer.

Finally, she got a break. Her teacher recommended her to a one-person corporate travel agency willing to pay minimum wage. Two months later, Cochran bought the declining agency for $20,000.

She couldn't get a Small Business Administration loan, so she turned to her mother. Next, she hired a licensed manager with experience to get her agency accredited by Airlines Reporting Corp., which also sets regulations governing airline-agency relations.

"I thought if I could get an agency that wasn't doing well, I could get it at an affordable price and build it up. That way I wouldn't have to worry about setting up an office," Cochran said.

The business before the Internet

Back then, travel agencies were abundant. The Internet wasn't a factor. Travel agents worked hard for their commissions. Booking a flight meant flipping through a thick loose-leaf book to find prices. Agents called airlines directly, waited on hold until tickets were booked and wrote tickets by hand. Then they waited for the daily ticket delivery to the agency.

"We wrote out so many tickets that I could write them out blindfolded," Cochran said.  It was an era when travel agents felt valued by cruise lines, tour operators and airlines.

Cochran worked hard, putting in 12-hour days, paying attention to details, networking and focusing on customer service. Over the next 14 years, she built her company to $5 million in sales and 24 employees. Today, with $3 million in annual sales, the company has five employees.

"It was frustrating to work so hard to build a booming business, only to have something out of my control come along and change it," Cochran said.

Thirty years ago, corporate travel accounted for about 85 percent of Cochran's sales. Today, half of her revenue comes from leisure travel.  Cathy MacDonald, Cochran's first employee, remained at the agency for 10 years. Together they built the business with a simple strategy of calling on friends and family, then going all out to please them so they would spread the word.

At the same time, Cochran was bidding on corporate and government accounts, joining boards and spending a lot of time working with women's, minority and business organizations.

By the mid-1990s, though, travel agents began losing business to online travel providers. Cochran took a close look at her business and made changes as more corporate clients started booking their own travel. She became a representative office of American Express, a move to capitalize on the corporate name. She advertised and sent e-mails to corporate clients promoting leisure travel, cruises and group travel. She participated in all-day trade events.

Then came the daunting challenges of 2001 and 2002.  "In many businesses, catastrophic events are out of a business owner's control," said Mark Hauserman, director of the Muldoon Center for Entrepreneurship at John Carroll University. "Gail was able to re-establish her business by using her experience and reputation in the marketplace to find a niche that was profitable.

"In a fast-changing economy, the ability to re-evaluate your business model is the key element in your continued success. Business owners who are not able to change their model may soon be toast."

Corporate clients find their way back

Cochran said some of the corporate clients she lost have returned, either because they missed the convenience or because they decided too many employees were booking travel. Her firm sends companies monthly reports and keeps them abreast of industry changes.

Some corporate clients, including Case Western Reserve University, Blonder Wall Coverings and the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office, never left. Greg L. Reese, executive director of the East Cleveland Public Library, said he's been booking trips for staff members and trustees with Flite II for about 25 years. "It's easier than fooling with the Internet," he said.

Gordon Vertescher, owner of Tour Associates Inc. in Boston, said he knows Cochran through a travel-agency support organization called Travel Agency Management Systems. They talk weekly, and for the past decade they've met quarterly to discuss their individual businesses and the industry.  He marvels at Cochran's ability to bring in new business by being out in the community.

"The other day I was talking to her and I was impressed that she said she had five corporate prospects to visit - and they called her," he said. "Prospects are hard to come by in this environment."  To congratulate Gail: Click Here.