Head of trade Alan Cross told TTG the project would likely result in the creation of “five to seven” new roles, freeing up Jet2’s on-the-road team to spend more time with agents.

Cross revealed that with nearly 20% of Jet2’s trade business now coming from homeworkers and call centres rather than high street agencies, he was looking to take on a non-retail account manager.

“We interact differently with them,” said Cross. “It’s all about social media and webinars. We have to communicate our message differently.”

Another new role Jet2 is seeking to create is a social media and marketing content manager. “They won’t be out there delivering it,” said Cross. “They will produce the content and keep it uniform so we’re not rebuilding it every time.”

Finally, Cross said he hoped to create a dedicated events team now the operator is regularly holding more than 200 events a year, and has even started organising conferences for others in the travel sector.

Ahead of peaks, Jet2’s trade team of 19 has expanded to nearly 40 – the largest it has been in the operator’s history – with the addition of a number of “promo” staff who will be on hand to support agents, particularly on the events side of the operation, from November through to the end of February.

Cross said the promo staff have been sourced variously from cabin crew and in-resort staff among other parts of the Jet2 operation to ensure they are familiar with the business.

It’s the third year that Jet2 has convened a promo team for peaks, with the operator now selling through more than 3,000 independent agents.

“They’re not for commercial or marketing,” said Cross. “Their job is to go out and deliver a message. It’s traditionally gone down very well with agents, they love speaking to cabin crew and destination managers.”