American pulls tickets from Orbitz
- Thread starter damajagua
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eolesen
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It's a complicated decision.... "Pulling their plate" as we used to say in the days of paper tickets was always a measure of last resort.
Given I work for a competitor, I'll refrain from injecting my opinion, but will refer you to read some of the background & commentary over at Tnooz: http://www.tnooz.com/tag/american-airlines/
And no. I don't get any revenue from referring people to Tnooz, nor do I write for them at the moment or in the past...
WorldTraveler
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I have no current financial interest in the airline industry and can so that American is doing what others wish they could do in a move that makes sense given the change in technologies.
Most external tickets booked other than directly with the airline are still booked through computer reservation systems, such as Sabre, the system AA created. AA no longer sees a need to pay an intermediary merely to pass information between AA's system and the user system so AA developed direct booking technology to bypass the CRS/GDS.
AA has always been one of the most aggressive airlines in shaping distribution strategy and this development is no different. Travelport recognizes the potential this case to upset much of the status quo in the airline distribution system. The basis for moving forward should be whether AA has the grounds to change their agreement with Travelport -and Orbitz. That is for the courts to decide.
What AA has decided and which employees of the network airlines should wholeheartedly support is that AA is attacking another cost which is disprportionately borne by the network carriers; reducing distribution costs (where low cost carriers have had an advantage for sometime) means less "flesh" the airlines have to seek from employees and other sources.
Most external tickets booked other than directly with the airline are still booked through computer reservation systems, such as Sabre, the system AA created. AA no longer sees a need to pay an intermediary merely to pass information between AA's system and the user system so AA developed direct booking technology to bypass the CRS/GDS.
AA has always been one of the most aggressive airlines in shaping distribution strategy and this development is no different. Travelport recognizes the potential this case to upset much of the status quo in the airline distribution system. The basis for moving forward should be whether AA has the grounds to change their agreement with Travelport -and Orbitz. That is for the courts to decide.
What AA has decided and which employees of the network airlines should wholeheartedly support is that AA is attacking another cost which is disprportionately borne by the network carriers; reducing distribution costs (where low cost carriers have had an advantage for sometime) means less "flesh" the airlines have to seek from employees and other sources.
Our friend is making sense.
WorldTraveler
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Amazing how quickly the relationship changes between the "created" and the "creator"... This is just the first step in a process that will grow beyond Orbitz and AA.
This is more than an inconvenience for many Sabre employees given the desire to use AA's nonstop network.
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Looks like Expedia is now no longer displaying AA flights and fares on the first screen; AA flights have to be specifically selected in order to obtain a price instead of having the price displayed in the initial display.
"This has been done in light of both American Airlines' recent decision to prevent Orbitz from selling its inventory and a possible disruption in Expedia's ability to sell American Airlines tickets when our contract with American Airlines expires," Expedia said in a statement.
This is more than an inconvenience for many Sabre employees given the desire to use AA's nonstop network.
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Looks like Expedia is now no longer displaying AA flights and fares on the first screen; AA flights have to be specifically selected in order to obtain a price instead of having the price displayed in the initial display.
"This has been done in light of both American Airlines' recent decision to prevent Orbitz from selling its inventory and a possible disruption in Expedia's ability to sell American Airlines tickets when our contract with American Airlines expires," Expedia said in a statement.
Interested
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And now, Expedia will not show AA flights.
This will, undoubtedly, make Delta Air Lines a much better airline.
AA should sue Expedia. I hope that at the end of the contract they
pull their tickets from Expedia too.
jersey777
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I have to say that I hope AA knows what they are doing. I love the fact that we save money by not having to pay such a large fee for bookings but hope that we don't lose customers. If other airlines follow suit then all the better that all airlines are cutting out a middleman.
BTW...my partner works for Orbitz and only 5% of their airline bookings were for AA.
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I read that expedia is making an extra step or 2 to get AA prices. Looked up DFW-ORD, it did show AA but not the price and they are now at the bottom of the list. Who's going to search all the way to the bottom.
http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fexp&flag=q&city1=Dallas%2C+TX+%28DFW-Dallas-Fort+Worth+Intl.%29&citd1=ord&date1=12/24/2010&time1=362&cAdu=1&cSen=&cChi=&cInf=&infs=2&tktt=&trpt=1&ecrc=&eccn=&qryt=8&load=1&airp1=DFW&dair1=&rdct=1&rfrr=-429
I wonder if expedia is in violation of their agreement with AA. Expedia is doing this in retaliation of American pulling their tickects from Orbitz. I wonder if AA can Persue legal action because the disagreement was with Orbitz not Expedia.
