Sabre Calls American Airlines a 'Jilted Suitor' in Response to Suit Over Delta Deal
Skift Take
The American versus Sabre lawsuit touches on bigger questions of how to fairly display ticket prices to agencies and consumers. Most tech providers and regulators must face these questions as airlines unbundle and repackage more airfares and upsells.
Sabre raised the rhetorical volume when it responded on Friday to American Airlines's recently filed lawsuit. The carrier seeks to stop the travel technology company from using a new method of displaying airfares on its travel agency reservation systems. Sabre called it a "jilted suitor" that's jealous of Delta getting a deal similar to one it had rejected.
American's lawsuit alleges that Sabre's new format for displaying airfares breaches its contract with American by biasing search results in favor of its domestic rival Delta Air Lines. On Friday, Sabre filed in a Texas court its response to American's allegations, saying the claims are without merit and that it intends to defend against the suit.
"It is apparent from the face of AA's [American Airlines'] petition that it filed this lawsuit as a knee-jerk reaction to press releases about innovation that AA could not control," the Sabre filing said. "With a palpable fear of falling further behind, AA has resorted to litigation rather than innovation."
In its court filing, Sabre said its old interface for travel agencies sorted ticket offers took a schedule-led approach based only on the lowest price. Its new format, called the new airline store
