Sabre last week asked a Texas state court in Tarrant County to rescind a temporary restraining order prohibiting the GDS company from negatively biasing American's fare displays.
Sabre in court documents claimed that federal law, namely the Airline Deregulation Act, preempts state courts from interfering in "a GDS's display of fare and services."
American this week disputed that interpretation in a response and suggested Sabre is using the court to affirm its legal rights to demote AA fares in search results, as it did briefly in early January.
Sabre noted in court documents that it "has not subsequently taken any steps to de-preference the display of American's fares" since the Tarrant County court on Jan. 10 issued the restraining order.
Asked if Sabre could assure subscribers that it does not intend to skew American's fares, a spokesperson replied: "We simply want to be in position to exercise our contractual rights should we need to. Our focus remains on negotiating a deal with American Airlines that balances the needs of all constituents."
"If they are indeed intent on vigorously protecting a transparent market place, why are they fighting so vigorously to preserve their ability to bias?" asked an American spokesperson by email this week.
While the Department of Transportation in February warned GDSs and online travel agencies about "undisclosed display bias," American in court documents this week noted DOT "never said that biasing is not unfair or deceptive as long as it is disclosed."
The Tarrant County court during a hearing set for June 17 could rule on Sabre's request, according to an American spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Sabre also claimed that American breached confidentiality provisions in their contract by disclosing booking fees and other contractual terms in court documents. Those details have been published by media outlets, including The Beat, and have harmed Sabre's negotiating stance with at least one other airline, the GDS operator claimed.
American filed those contractual details in its initial request for the temporary restraining order, but they since have been scrubbed from the court's public record.
"Subsequent to American's improper disclosure, Sabre has engaged in contract negotiations with at least one other major airline," according to Sabre, which did not disclose the airline.
"During those negotiations, this airline, which is a competitor of American, repeatedly relied on the now-public price that Sabre charges to American to try to negotiate a better price. The airline argued that it was unwilling to accept pricing terms less favorable than those obtained by American."
This report initially appeared Wednesday in sister publication The Beat.