Expedia, JetBlue Ink Five-Year Content Deal

Expedia Inc. has signed a five-year agreement with JetBlue Airways for its content, the company said late yesterday.

Before the deal, Expedia Corporate Travel users were able to see JetBlue flights via the Sabre GDS, which Expedia has been using since the fall of 2006, but then had to make the actual booking directly through the JetBlue Web site, according to Stan Sorensen, vice president of marketing for Expedia Corporate Travel.

Sorensen said ECT will continue to aggressively pursue its multi-GDS strategy, but declined to comment further on its plans to garner further content.

The announcement also reflects JetBlue's other moves to distribute content through all channels, including the GDS, said president of Pennington, N.J.-based TRW Travel Consulting Tom Wilkinson. "It suggests some important changes to JetBlue's strategy. If it can get more products on more shelves then they are going to sell more products. Perhaps it is a new model of turning travel agencies into distributors of content away from what is in the GDS."