CHICAGO -- American will become the fifth airline owner of the "T2"
Web site that agent groups already have called an anticompetitive
attempt to control the sale of tickets over the Internet.
The addition of American means all of the five biggest U.S.
airlines will have an equity stake in the company, whose founding
members were Continental, Delta, Northwest and United.
"Customers increasingly want to use the Web, and they want to
see all the options in one place, no matter which airline is
involved," said Mike Gunn, American's executive vice president for
marketing and planning. "We need to provide those customers what
they want, and we believe doing so will prove to be a good
e-commerce investment for American."
Agency organizations, however, said American's addition to the
ownership group bolsters their arguments against the joint venture
in spite of the airlines' claims the online agency will operate as
an independent company with separate management.
"This further illustrates what we have been saying all along,"
said Paul Ruden, ASTA staff senior vice president for industry
affairs. "We now have 60% of the domestic capacity represented by
the equity owners. We think this whole project is bad for consumers
and this doesn't make it any better."
ASTA has filed a complaint with the Transportation Department
over the airlines' planned Web site and "will continue [its]
efforts to inform the government of our view of this situation and
seek appropriate intervention," Ruden said.
John Hawks, president of ARTA, which filed a separate complaint
with the DOT, said "Now there are no major players of any
consequence outside the loop. This just adds fuel to fire. All of
the [airlines'] wagons are circled."
The joint-airline Web site, scheduled to launch this summer, is
billing itself as a "new online travel agency" covering not only
airlines, but also products and services from hotels, car rental
companies, cruise lines, vacation packagers and other travel
suppliers worldwide.
For airlines, the site is promising it will scout all fares
using an unbiased search engine "without regard to whether an
airline is an owner of the site, a non-equity participant or
neither."
Internet-only fares, however, will be posted only for the owners
and 30-plus carriers that have signed letters of intent to become
charter associates.
Equity owners and charter associates, the new online agency
said, can continue operating their respective Web sites and
participate in other on-line and traditional distribution
channels.