Expedia will start selling American Airlines’ fares again, after the two companies ended a long-running feud over distribution methods.
The travel booking site and airline fell out over AA’s plans to start selling tickets through its own website, rather than through a global distribution system (GDS).
Access to fares and scheduling information of AA and subsidiary American Eagle has now been restored on Expedia after a three-month break, initially via GDS technology.
In the future, however, Expedia has indicated it will start accessing AA’s fares, schedules and ancillary products via the airline’s direct connect link, but using “aggregation technology” provided by a GDS.
The move is something Expedia has long resisted, having previously said that the GDS provides unbeatable ease and clarity when booking.
Additional terms of the agreement were not revealed, however, in a statement Expedia said it is “committed to working with airlines, GDS and other technology partners to ensure continued innovation within the Expedia marketplace”.
The distribution debate continues between the GDSs and AA, however, while many in the business travel industry fear a direct connect model will reduce travel bookers' ability to compare fares side by side..
Travelport, which owns the Galileo and Worldspan GDSs, is currently in the process of suing AA after the carrier removed its fares from online travel agency Orbitz, which is part-owned by the GDS.
The technology firm claimed AA was in breach of its full content agreement.
www.expedia.com www.aa.com