Group Says American "Appears to Have No Idea Why We Fly," Urges Airline to End Strong-Arm Tactics, Abandon "Anti-Consumer" Direct Connect Program
WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2010 — 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.
About the Consumer Travel Alliance
The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to provide consumers an articulate and reasoned voice in decisions that affect travel consumers across all of travel's spectrum. CTA's staff gathers facts, analyzes issues, and disseminates that information to the public, the travel industry, regulators and policy makers. CTA was founded by longtime travel journalists Charles Leocha, former MSNBC travel guru and host of the popular Travel Tips radio program, and Christopher Elliott, ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler and author of travel columns for Tribune Syndicates, MSNBC.com and the Washington Post syndicate. For more information, visit http://consumertravelalliance.org.
Contact:
Consumer Travel Alliance
Charles Leocha
202.713.9596
leocha[at]gmail.com
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