Travel search engine Kayak has informed American Airlines that it will no longer display the airline's fares, effective Aug. 1.
Kayak claims that American told Kayak it can display the airline's fares only if Kayak suppresses the search results of competitors.
"This is simply not something that Kayak will do," said Kayak executives Keith Melnick and Steve Hafner. “Imagine Sony telling Best Buy that they couldn’t sell Panasonic?
“We are dedicated to providing a comprehensive and objective display to our users. We’re unwilling to amend this pro-consumer philosophy that is the core of our business by suppressing results based on a partner’s request. We welcome American Airlines to rejoin Kayak.com’s objective results at any time.”
Here’s American’s take:
"We are disappointed and hopeful that this issue can be resolved in the near future so that American Airlines will again display on the Kayak/Sidestep sites. Our schedules and fares remain available through many other meta-search engines such as Mobissimo and Farecast for purchase through our award-winning website, AA.com. Tickets already purchased [via Kayak] remain valid for customers traveling on American."
Both sides made it clear they were working toward -- and hoping for -- a solution that would keep American fares in Kayak searches.
There’s some suggestion in the industry cyberland that this could be a move by Kayak to negotiate fees directly from an airline. American points to the web blog CrankyFlier, which says, in part:
"Payment historically hasn’t been upon display but rather when the click occurs or when the purchase occurs. AA will either pay Kayak directly or Orbitz will pay Kayak and American will pay Orbitz its usual commission. Those are the only options."