AA Yanks Its Fares From Orbitz, CheapTickets
by Michele McDonald /American Airlines yanked its fares from Orbitz.com and its sister site, CheapTickets.com, after failing to reach a new deal with the online agency.
The carrier had been seeking an agreement with “economics” that would allow it to compete with low-cost carriers.
American said US Airways, its merger partner, also was expected to remove its flights from the Orbitz site on Sept. 1.
Corporate clients that use Orbitz for Business are not affected. American said, “it is our intent” to continue selling through Orbitz for Business.
Other options
Tickets already purchased remain valid, but any changes must be made through each airline’s reservations department.
American noted that there are “thousands of other options” for purchasing its tickets, including the aa.com and usairways.com websites, brick-and-mortar travel agencies and other online agencies.
American blasted the news out to its customers on its home page, saying “You won’t find our fares on Orbitz” in very large type.
Orbitz Worldwide issued a statement acknowledging that American has notified it that, as of Aug. 26, its flights will not be available on Orbitz sites.
“Our sites offer hundreds of airlines which are eager to capture the revenue American is choosing to forego, and we will continue to show our customers a broad range of flight options to thousands of destinations in the U.S. and worldwide,” the statement said.
Who gets hurt?
According to Robert Cole, founder of RockCheetah, a travel technology consultancy, American’s domestic load factor in July was 88.4%.
Its cross town competitor, Southwest Airlines, doesn’t participate in Orbitz, so the OTA’s customers in and out of Dallas are left with a plethora of connections.
“This hurts Orbitz a lot more than it does American,” Cole said. “Businesses normally try to negotiate from a position of power.
“With the top four U.S. carriers also having the largest fleets and flying more passengers than any other in the world, one can count on that power being used.”
Airlines will flex their muscles to lower their distribution costs, he predicted.
Old disputes
This isn’t the first time that American and Orbitz have crossed swords.
In November 2010, the carrier fired what Orbitz chief Barney Harford called, “the first salvo in American’s broad attack on the distribution landscape.”
At the time, American was waging a campaign to convert large agencies to its direct-connect technology, bypassing GDSs.
The dispute generated lawsuits and counterclaims among American, Orbitz, Travelport and Sabre that took more than two years to settle.