Ryanair Sues Expedia and 5 Other Aviation Trends This Week

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines aviation.

For all of our weekend roundups, go here.

>>Ryanair says it gets 99 percent of its bookings from its website in a distribution model that has some parallels to how Southwest Airlines does business. Expedia doesn’t offer Southwest’s flights to consumers, but apparently thinks it can get away with scraping the website of a foreign airline, Ryanair.com: Ryanair Files U.S. Lawsuit Against Expedia Over Screen-Scraping

>>Brisbane-based Alliance Airlines continues to see opportunities where others fear to fly. It has done extremely well in Australia’s mining boom, and now aims to grow its tourism activities to shield it from the ups and downs of the resources sector: Australian Charter Operator Gets Opportunistic About Tourism Surge

>>Isn’t corporate posturing fun? American won’t sign its Chicago lease because it fears United is getting a better deal. Since we’re pretty sure American won’t close its Chicago hub, we’re betting this gets resolved. But how? American Air Is Battling Chicago Over a ‘Secret’ Deal With United

>>IATA, a global airline industry trade group, would prefer politicians and regulators not meddle too much with the commercial decisions of airlines. That’s a fine position, but perhaps a certain amount of regulation is OK. Consumers should be protected: Airlines Are Counting on Trump to Reduce Regulations

>>American Airlines has been hinting at expanding basic economy fares on some European routes for some time now, so this is not surprising. Look for more of its competitors on both sides of the Atlantic to offer similar fares. Passengers have proven they want the cheapest possible ticket prices, even if those fares come with few frills: American Airlines Will Bring Basic Economy to Transatlantic Routes

>>Airlines have long hoped for a technological development that would enable them to take back control from travel’s middlemen. The New Distribution Capability was supposed to be that solution, but change of this magnitude takes time. At the moment, the British Airways parent seems more than happy to eat up the cost: British Airways Wants to Get Smarter About Selling Airline Tickets