American Airlines gets win over Sabre and Orbitz as judge allows antitrust case to proceed

A federal judge denied a request by Orbitz Worldwide Inc, Sabre Holdings Corp and Travelport Ltd to dismiss a lawsuit filed by American Airlines Inc accusing the companies of antitrust violations

The decision by U.S. District Judge Terry Means in Fort Worth, Texas, which had been under seal, was made public on Tuesday following a request by the parties to unseal the order.

American Airlines, whose parent company is AMR Corp, accused the defendants of monopolizing how fares and flights are distributed to travel agents.

Orbitz is an online travel agency, Travelport provides transaction processing, and Sabre runs a distribution system that delivers fare and flight information to travel agents.

Judge Means had previously dismissed some claims by American Airlines, but he allowed the company to submit a second amended complaint. In his most recent decision, Means found that American had adequately alleged that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to preserve their market power.

Nancy St. Pierre, a spokeswoman for Sabre, said the company would continue to “vigorously defend ourselves against these baseless and meritless claims.”

American Airlines, Travelport and Orbitz did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The case is American Airlines Inc. V. Travelport Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, No 11-0244.

Documents:

1) The 23-page ruling on AA antitrust claims to go ahead:

Download (PDF, 76KB)

2) The 10-page ruling dismissing Travelport’s counterclaims against AA:

Download (PDF, 44KB)