American Airlines and online travel agency Orbitz squashed a long-standing beef over distribution costs and methods this past Monday.
American sued Chicago-based Orbitz, along with the airfare data provider Travelport, which owns a 48 percent share in Orbitz, in 2011, claiming the sites advertised heightened fare prices online, faking out potential customers and thus shrinking their profits.
The airline contended it would be better off giving details directly to travel agencies and suddenly, as the debate escalated, American tickets began disappearing from Orbitz.com's page.
American settled with Travelport last month, but it was not until Monday that Orbitz and American shook hands and made up.
The companies both declined to expound upon details, which still are under review by the U.S. bankruptcy court presiding over American parent AMR Corp's case, according to Reuters.
Excluding a brief news release, not much information has been passed on by either entity.
Before the tug-of-war came to a halt, distribution companies accused American of casting them aside to bring down any extra competition in airline travel sales.
"The underlying goal of the airlines is to have more control of their product," Norm Rose, president of Travel Tech Consulting Inc. told the Wall Street Journal.
And certainly, some say, American is entitled to such control, as it is their business, their livelihood at stake. But the same could be said about Orbitz.com.
Regardless, they must still try and work together.
"The systems have to co-exist," Rose continued, explaining that airlines will constantly rely upon travel agents to some degree in business, because most corporations and big-name customers use intermediaries like Orbitz to book their many travels.
The recent reconciliation will surely amp up both American and Orbitz's revenue, for both companies can now focus on trimming distribution costs and sell extras, like assigned seating and sky-high Wi-Fi access.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
