In deference to the short time span between the Airlines Reporting Corp.'s recent decision to increase its agency fees to $395 and their implementation on January 1, the organization has decided to split the collection of the fee, asking for $150 in January and the remaining balance of $245 by July. ARC said it expects to publish a final collection schedule the first week of January. ASTA, which disputes the fee increase and argued it should be put off until an arbitration board hearing the organization's case against the hikes comes to a decision, was amenable to ARC's announcement. "The accommodation made by ARC, following discussions with ASTA and other agency representatives, is a reasonable response to that request and protects the vast majority of agency locations from the fixed-fee increase until July," ASTA said in a statement. "We hope the arbitration will be close to ending or perhaps even decided before the collection date in July." (JM)