American Airlines reaches deal with Travelport
American Airlines, information provider Travelport settle dispute over sales to travel agents
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- American Airlines and travel middleman Travelport said Wednesday that they settled their legal dispute over control of information about American's flights.
The companies said they reached a long-term distribution agreement that involved both Travelport's network and American's system of transmitting information directly to travel agents. Travel agents who subscribe to Travelport will be able to sell American's extra-fee, upgraded coach seats called Main Cabin Extra.
Financial terms and length of the agreement were not disclosed. It is subject to approval by the judge handling American's bankruptcy case.
American had sued Travelport, accusing it of monopolizing flight information. Travelport owns the Orbitz online travel agency and so-called global distribution systems Galileo and Worldspan, which provide information about flights and fares to travel agents.
American, a unit of AMR Corp., settled a similar dispute last year with Sabre, which operates ticket-reservations systems for airlines.
