American Airlines and Sabre Travel Network called a truce, putting their litigation on hold until June 1.
The companies said they will “begin work shortly in an effort to reach a new agreement.”
In addition, they will “return to operating as they were prior to Jan. 5.”
On Jan. 5, Sabre began biasing American’s displays in the U.S. and most of the rest of the world (it was prohibited from doing so in Canada and the European Union).
American Airlines and Sabre Travel Network called a truce, putting their litigation on hold until June 1.
The companies said they will “begin work shortly in an effort to reach a new agreement.”
In addition, they will “return to operating as they were prior to Jan. 5.”
On Jan. 5, Sabre began biasing American’s displays in the U.S. and most of the rest of the world (it was prohibited from doing so in Canada and the European Union).
It also revoked the discounts on segment fees that American had received in exchange for a long-term contract.
American filed suit against Sabre and won a temporary restraining order prohibiting the display bias.
The dispute has generated a lot of press coverage that spilled over into consumer media late last year, when American revoked Orbitz’s ticketing authority because it refused to connect with the carrier via a new XML link.
Since then, American has been cast in the role of the heavy, most recently when 117 travel companies and organizations banded together in opposition to the type of direct connections that American is pushing for.
Among those entities were major travel agencies, some of which had close working relationships with the carrier; the Big 3 online agencies, trade associations, and corporations with big travel budgets.
Sabre and American had been slated to meet in a Tarrant County (Fort Worth) court, where American sued Sabre and Travelport, on Feb. 14.
A spokesman for American said the airline is still suing Travelport, but the case will now be heard in a Cook County (Chicago) court.
Neither American nor Sabre is commenting on the truce, or on what prompted it.