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To: Brasco One who wrote (2584)	5/5/2001 11:58:39 PM
From: tech101	Respond to of 2743

Southwest Air Sues Web Site Run by Orbitz Travek Site Tech Center Associated Press May 4, 2001 DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines filed suit against a new travel Web site backed by its major competitors, accusing it of giving consumers incorrect information about Southwest's fares and flights that has been "harmful" to the company. Orbitz.com posts Southwest's published schedule and fares, but Southwest blocks it from selling the airline's tickets or displaying Southwest's online fares. Southwest charged that Orbitz deceives consumers with its slogan that it offers "always the lowest fares," because Southwest said it often charges lower fares on its own Web site, southwest.com. "We don't show their Web fares," acknowledged Orbitz spokeswoman Carol Jouzaitis Friday. "If we had them, we would show them. Southwest won't allow us to sell their fares." Southwest makes no apologies for wanting to control online sales of its tickets. "We want to display our lowest fares on our own Southwest.com site, which we have a significant investment in," said Ron Ricks, the airline's vice president of government affairs. "It's not in our interest to send customers to someone else's business." The low-fare carrier filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in California against Orbitz. Southwest sells about 30% of its tickets at its own Web site, generating about $1.7 billion annually. Airline officials said they have blocked other Web sites, including Travelocity and Expedia, from selling their tickets. Southwest also claims that Orbitz makes it appear as if Southwest offers inconvenient connections between cities -- for example, from Detroit to Albany, N.Y., via Chicago and Baltimore. "We wouldn't sell that [Detroit-Chicago-Baltimore-Albany] route. They've had to manufacture some of these routings," Mr. Ricks said. Earlier Concessions In negotiations before Southwest filed the lawsuit, Orbitz made concessions on three other issues, including removing Southwest's logo from its Web site. Both sides claimed that they were acting in the interest of increasing competition and helping consumers. "Most observers believe that the airline industry needs to be more competitive. Orbitz is a step in the wrong direction," said Southwest general counsel James Parker, who is scheduled to become chief executive next month. He accused Orbitz of making "misleading, untrue and harmful representations" about Southwest. Ms. Jouzaitis, the Orbitz spokeswoman, said consumers go online to comparison-shop among airlines, "and Orbitz is the first to provide that. We'll show you every airline that competes [on a specific route], and we'll show you all the published fares." Competition Concerns Because it is funded by the five largest U.S. carriers -- AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines -- critics have been concerned that Orbitz could dominate the sale of airline tickets over the Internet. The American Society of Travel Agents protested that the site was part of a plan by airlines to drive agents out of business, and the Justice Department has been investigating possible anticompetitive implications of the airline-backed Web site. The Department of Transportation concluded last month that Orbitz could increase competition in the online travel business. Chicago-based Orbitz has sold more than $1 million in airline, hotel and car-rental tickets since February and has 70,000 registered users although it won't officially begin service until June. American, Delta and Northwest declined to comment on the lawsuit. Officials at United and Continental didn't return calls.