Monday, January 3rd, 2010
In a move that will threaten customers ability to find and purchase cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, Delta has pulled its flights from CheapAOAir.com, OneTravel.com, and BookIt.com. Deltas action is seen as a move to increase bookings that go directly through Delta.com.
Delta claims that The most robust experience you (the traveler) should have in that transaction should theoretically be our Web site. Delta compares purchasing through its website as an experience similar to purchasing directly from an Apple store vs. Best Buy.
You can buy components or Apple products at both. Your experience in an Apple store is obviously quite different than it is at a Best Buy store. That model is what we think about when we think about Delta.com, says Glen Hauenstein, Deltas executive vice president of network planning.
Some travel experts claim that the only surprising thing about Deltas decision is that it has taken so long for it to be reached.
Over the last two years the U.S. airline industry has successfully reduced its capacity, restraining its desire to grow, resulting in a huge profit turnaround in 2010 as the economy slowly recovers. Now that they have their inventory under control, airlines are beginning to focus on how to reduce their distribution costs.
The decision by Delta and American Airlines to delist selective travel Internet sites are believed to be only the first of many such moves going forward.
American Airlines Pulls Fares off Orbitz
In a move that potentially has disturbing ramifications for travelers trying to find cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, American Airlines has informed Orbitz, one of Americas largest online travel companies, that it can no longer sell or display Americans fares on the Orbitz.com website.
Although no other online travel sites have been impacted by American Airlines decision concerning Orbitz, many travel experts fear that this is only the beginning of a series of moves to pull airfares off of independent travel Internet websites.
Orbitz is recognized as a contributor to a revolution of how travelers shop for flights, by consolidating airfares from many airlines onto a single website, empowering customers to easily shop for the cheapest deals.
American Airlines says that it wants greater control of how it sells tickets and other goods and services to online travel companies. American wants online travel companies to use an electronic pipeline it has created called AA Direct Connect.
If other airlines follow Americans lead and decide to delist fares now showing on online travel websites, travelers would lose a powerful money saving tool, namely the ability to compare fares from multiple airlines by visiting a single travel Internet website.
Ultimately experts fear that airline tickets prices will rise if comparison shopping is made more difficult and time consuming.
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