Travelport has filed a motion to dismiss American Airline’s anti-trust suit, saying it is “not genuine”.
The move is the latest development in an ongoing disagreement between the two companies over how AA distributes its fares and schedules.
AA has set up a new Direct Connect model, encouraging clients to buy directly from the airline's own website rather than through the GDS.
The carrier started the process of suing Travelport and Orbitz in April over “anticompetitive business practices”.
The airline’s lawsuit stated that Travelport had engaged in anticompetitive conduct “to protect its market position from new competition by alternative technologies that are both less expensive and more capable”.
Travelport has now said that AA’s suit should be dismissed, as the airline is trying “unabashedly” to “secure a more favorable position” in the next round of contract negotiations.
In a legal memo to support the dismissal Travelport continued: “The current round of contracts between the parties expires later this year.
“Preliminary contract negotiations have stalled, and AA has made good on its threat to file a lawsuit such as this one if Travelport did not yield on certain commercial terms.”
Travelport added AAs’s suit is “not a genuine antitrust action”, but “an opportunistic lawsuit brought by a large and powerful company seeking to enhance its already substantial commercial bargaining leverage”.