A Texas state court in Tarrant County ruled Thursday that Sabre Holdings can't prevent American Airlines from seeking a court order to stop Sabre from negatively biasing the airline's fares in GDS displays.
The presiding judge said that Sabre's motion to vacate the temporary restraining order "is denied as moot," and that Sabre's request that the court dismiss AA's request for a temporary injunction hearing and for injunctive relief is "overruled and denied."
AA spokesman Ryan Mikolasik said that the airline was "pleased that the court rejected Sabre's argument and ruled that Sabre can't stop American from requesting an injunction should Sabre bias our content again based on that preemption."
Earlier this month, Sabre asked the Texas state court to rescind the temporary restraining order, arguing that federal law, specifically the Airline Deregulation Act, preempts the state court's ability to "enter any injunctive relief."
Sabre said in a statement today, "We received the judge's ruling and will prepare for whatever next steps are determined by the judge. Our focus remains on negotiating a deal with American Airlines that balances the needs of all constituents."
Thursdays's ruling is the latest step in an ongoing legal struggle between AA and Sabre, which are also suing each other in federal court. /Travel-News/Travel-Technology/Sabre-and-AA-ratchet-up-war-in-distribution-by-suing-each-other/
AA last month added Sabre to the antitrust lawsuit it originally filed in April against Travelport, and Sabre filed a motion to intervene in AA's antitrust lawsuit against Travelport in federal court.
Much of the disputes center around American's efforts to implement its Direct Connect distribution solution.
"We remain open to talks with Sabre, and other GDSs, that will lead to an agreement that is fair and allows American to utilize new technologies in the distribution of our product," AA's Mikolasik said. "In the meantime, we intend to honor our existing contractual relationships with Sabre, which we expect will continue indefinitely."