WASHINGTON -- News Travels of Framingham, Mass., lost a court
battle for an injunction that would have prevented American
Airlines from pulling its plate due to a dispute over $89,000 in
debit memos for alleged back-to-back ticketing.
Earlier, News Travels won a temporary restraining order from a
Massachusetts superior court.
American then got the case transferred to a U.S. District Court,
which denied the agency's request for an injunction, according to
the agency's lawyer, Roger Davis of Boston-based Davis and
Rubin.
"We're disappointed but not surprised" because getting an
injunction is "a tough road to hoe," Davis said.
Davis said News Travels is not issuing tickets on American
"because we've been told not to," so it does not matter whether the
carrier actually picks up its plate.
Meanwhile, he said, the agency plans to pursue its lawsuit,
which alleges that it is unfair for American to penalize News
Travels while its own employees issue back-to-back tickets.
American has declined comment on the pending litigation. But in
another forum, American has said it expressly prohibits its
reservationists from back-to-back ticketing.
The carrier made the statement in a filing at the Transportation
Department when it responded to an ARTA petition accusing American,
Delta, Northwest and United of unfair competitive practices for
cracking down on agents for back-to-back ticketing while allegedly
letting their own employees off the hook.
Each of the four airlines told the DOT that it has a single
policy against the practice that applies to both employees and
agents.