A Cook County, Ill., circuit judge on Friday approved a temporary
restraining order preventing American Airlines from terminating deals with
Orbitz Worldwide. AA this month notified Orbitz, 48 percent owned by
Travelport, of its intention to cancel those agreements, effective Dec. 1.
Instead, the parties on Dec. 2 will begin a preliminary injunction hearing in
the circuit court to determine each parties' rights.
"We are of course delighted with this decision,"
according to a Travelport spokeswoman who said she could not provide any
additional response. Travelport on Nov. 5 had filed a complaint for declaratory judgment.
According to an AA official, the court order served to
"temporarily delay the implementation of our decision to terminate our relationship with Orbitz. We are confident that once the court hears this
evidence and is allowed to make a ruling on the full evidence, it will find
that our decision to terminate Orbitz is fully consistent with all of our
contractual obligations. In the meantime, we will continue to pursue our
efforts to bring newer technologies and lower costs to the distribution of our
product."
American Airlines has claimed that Travelport on Dec. 20 will raise GDS fees on AA bookings at non-U.S. and non-Caribbean points of
sale, which the airline said would force it to apply surcharges on Travelport
agency subscribers at those points of sale to cover the added cost. Travelport
has not confirmed those changes, but has indicated it would "continue to
take appropriate actions in response to any measures AA initiates that discriminate
against our customers."