Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Travel Booking War Revives With Antitrust Suit

The war over the control of travel bookings by online travel sites like Bellevue-based Expedia has come back to life, as travel global distribution system (GDS) provider Sabre said Wednesday that it is filing an antitrust claim against American Airlines, over American's efforts to force Expedia, Orbitz, and others to use its Direct Connect system rather than the GDS systems of Sabre. Sabre said it "had no choice" but to pursue "legal remedies" based on unspecified actions by American Airlines on forcing online travel sites to use its Direct Connect product. The war between Expedia, Orbitz, Sabre, and American Airlines was kicked off in late 2010 when American Airlines pulled its flight listings from Orbitz, after Orbitz refused to switch over to American's systems; Expedia was pulled into the battle in January, also dropping its fares listings. However, both travel providers had started to again list American Fares after reaching MOUs with American in April over how they would gather American airline fares.