Court Orders American Airlines to List Flights on Orbitz

[DandyDon]

American has boycotting Orbitz for some time now, and Expedia has been boycotting American in support - but the judge stopped that crap...!

See Court Orders American Airlines to List Flights on Orbitz - AOL Travel News

The biggest loss has been failure to use the Orbitz $100 discount on air & hotel packages of a week or more with American flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Hawaii but that will be returning now. Try code 100vacation but works best in Mexico, especially for the solo traveler having to book a private room.

 

[Mike]

I guess in some small way this is positive news for price shopping consumers, but bad news for America and what this country was founded on. Just another fall into the socialism toilet. What an embarassment for capitalism and what free enterprise is supposed to mean. A judge orders your company to let another company sell your product. WTF?

 

[Wookie]

Doesn't seem right. Does that mean I have to let a reseller sell my product at a discount too? I'd just as soon shut the doors on the principal of the thing.

 

[DandyDon]

Did you two read the article? American sued first.

Beyond that, we are talking about a huge corporation with lots of federal interactions and subsidies.

 

[diversteve]

Did you read the article?

American Airlines filed an anti-trust suit against Travelport in December, claiming that the company, which owns just under half of Orbitz's shares and runs the service compiling fare information for travel site, was trying to control the sale of tickets.

If AA decided for whatever business reason to restrict/remove their flights from Orbitz, they should be allowed to do so. AA is not a monopoly, there are plenty of competing carries to choose from.

So the Orbitz comment about transparency doesn't hold water.

Orbitz rebutted with a statement describing the court triumph as "a win for transparency, consumer choice and for all of our mutual customers."

What they're really about is that they no longer controlled the revenue stream through their site on flights booked with AA.

Until this verdict...

If you sold a product or service would you like the courts to dictate who you must/must not sell it to? Explain how this is any different.

Orbitz is not the federal government but a public, for profit, enterprise. All the other travel sites who have agreements with AA should counter-sue as Orbitz now has been granted a business advantage by the court.

Using your logic someone should now file suit to force Southwest Airlines to provide all their booking data and participate in revenue sharing with Orbitz as well.

 

[k ellis]

Hey free enterprise at its finest. It does not work because people put dedication in to what they try to sale but instead because greedy people try to hold the poor down and prevent them from creating competition. They just lobby for advantages from the government and sue when they dont get their way. What ever happened to the old saying "We have the right to refuse service to any one at any time" Also bare in mind that what are fast becoming monopolies are about to put the breaks on capitalism. Look at Walmart. Neighboorhood markets, walmarts, sams clubs, murphies gas stations, and now I heard they are going to experiment with convenience store chains. Like in Tulsa alone why do they need 6 walmarts, 2 sams clubs, how ever many neighboorhood markets and the list goes on for a city of 350,000? All of the competition is drying up fast because no one actually stands up for free market any more.

I dont know the specifics of this case but I can tell you its not right to make it mandatory you sale product to any one for any reason. It should be your choice as to who you sale your products too.

 

[tridacna]

Free enterprise? Government interference? Classic tea party horse manure. The Federal government provides billions in public money to the airlines. When the airlines get their snouts out of the troughs, then you might have an argument. The same goes for farmers and energy companies. If you want laissez faire, first get your hands off my tax dollars.

NARP: National Association of Railroad Passengers

Just google "big fat cat socialist airlines receive federal subsidies".

A better use of federal tax dollars would be to help speed up this board. Waiting for pages to load is like watching paint set.

 

[lionfish-eater]

The judge in chi-town is legislating from the bench. The net result of the last two years of financial redistribution is that the big got bigger and the divide between the haves and the havenots has widened. The multi-national corporations have a revolving door with legislators taking positions with the very companies they are supposed to regulate. These people have been entrusted with the knowledge of the workings of our public government and they sell this knowledge and their connections to the highest bidder. Just because one judge makes a ruling should not have as much weight in our society because it is just a way to circumnavigate current laws and legislate from the bench.


America is not at war. The troops are at war. America is at the mall and the all you can eat buffet!

 

[deepstops]

AA was just trying lower the the booking fees they were paying to Orbitz. In the end, AA will probably triumph.

At the time the suit was filed, some experts speculated that the legal action was really just a bargaining gambit aimed at moving the needle on booking fees.

The Wall Street Journal reports that most travel sites like Orbitz received $8 to $10 for every ticket sold, but that those prices have been decreasing rapidly.

But costs are apparently not coming down fast enough for American, which added major GDS Sabre Holding Corp. to its federal lawsuit on Wednesday. Interestingly, Sabre spun off of American Airlines in 2000.

 

[theduckguru]

The tea party is a collection of wealth redistributionists. Cut social programs, cut taxes on the most wealth, cut corporate taxes, increases subsidies to large corporations, cut wages and benefits for workers.

Free enterprise? Government interference? Classic tea party horse manure. The Federal government provides billions in public money to the airlines. When the airlines get their snouts out of the troughs, then you might have an argument. The same goes for farmers and energy companies. If you want laissez faire, first get your hands off my tax dollars.

NARP: National Association of Railroad Passengers

Just google "big fat cat socialist airlines receive federal subsidies".

A better use of federal tax dollars would be to help speed up this board. Waiting for pages to load is like watching paint set.