A Manhattan federal judge ruled Friday that United Airlines
can begin withholding flight and pricing data from Expedia for flights that
depart after Sept. 30, when the current Expedia-United deal expires.
In the order, U.S. Southern District of New York Judge P.
Kevin Castel denied Expedia's request for a preliminary injunction that would
have required United to provide flight and pricing data for flights departing
after Sept. 30.
Expedia contended that its contract with United requires the
airline to allow it to sell tickets through Sept. 30 for all flights United has
scheduled, while United says the contract only requires that it provide Expedia
with information about flights departing before the contract expires.
Judge Castel concluded that Expedia had not demonstrated
that it would suffer irreparable damage from not being able to sell tickets for
United flights departing Oct. 1 and later, nor that the company's inability to
sell those flights would cause significant harm to consumers -- two standards required for the issuing of a preliminary injunction.
"There is no serious issue presented as to the ability
of members of the public to fly on the airline of their choosing," the
judge wrote.
United and Expedia aren't strangers to protracted contract
negotiations. The companies have twice extended the current agreement, with the
latest extension, in 2016, coming only two days before the contact was set to
expire.
In denying Expedia booking access for flights that depart
after Sept. 30, United has argued Expedia wouldn't be able to service
reservations after their current deal expires on Sept. 30. Such a situation,
United says, would cause problems in the case of a cancellation or itinerary
change.
Expedia counters that it is fully committed to servicing all
tickets it sells.
The dispute comes as airlines in the U.S. and around the
world are seeking to drive a higher portion of their ticket distribution to
internal sales channels.