American Airlines has settled claims that Travelport Ltd. colluded with other reservation systems to stifle competition in providing flight data to travelers.
The companies reached a new distribution agreement that will require the approval of the court presiding over the AMR Corp. bankruptcy, according to a joint statement issued today. No specific terms of the settlement were given. The accord resolves all litigation between the companies, according to the statement.Fort Worth-based American Airlines filed an antitrust suit in federal court in Dallas in April 2011, accusing Travelport, which is based in Atlanta and controlled by Blackstone Group, and other online reservation systems of conspiring to block the carrier from entering the electronic flight-data and reservations market.The dispute was triggered by American's move to provide flight reservation data and service directly to travel agents rather than going through data providers such as Travelport, Orbitz and Southlake-based Sabre Holdings.In October, the airline resolved disputes with Sabre. In February, Orbitz told U.S. District Judge Terry Means in Dallas that it too had reached a binding settlement with the airline. The judge rejected that contention and agreed with American that the two had only held inconclusive settlement discussions.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
