The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), a non-profit organization promoting consumer interests on travel policy issues, issued the following statement on the ruling by a judge today regarding a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing American Airlines from removing its listings from the Orbitz.com online travel site.
Commenting on the decision, Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer Travel Alliance, said:
“At its core, this dispute has nothing to do with business agreements, legal arguments, or distribution technologies. This is simply a heavy-handed attempt by American Airlines to prevent consumers from easily searching and comparing its fares against those of other airlines. In short, the only ‘direct connect’ American really seems to want is a ‘direct connect’ to consumers’ wallets.
“American appears to have no idea why we fly. We fly to get from point A to point B in the most convenient and cost-effective manner possible. We don’t fly to be manipulated by proprietary airline reservation systems that limit our choices, prevent comparison shopping, and hide the real cost of travel.
“American should end its strong-arm tactics and abandon this anti-consumer direct connect program. The Consumer Travel Alliance encourages American to launch a renewed effort to listen to its customers and partners about the services they actually want and need, instead of trying to force feed us a ‘direct connect’ to higher prices, less choice, and limited competition.”
The Consumer Travel Alliance recently filed joint comments with the Business Travel Coalition regarding a proposed rulemaking at the Department of Transportation (DOT) that would require an airline to make all of its ancillary fee information available through all of the distribution channels in which that airline participates. Those comments can be found at: http://consumertravelalliance.org/?p=424.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
