Airfares Aren't Public, Says American

FareChase, a New York software company that keeps track of fares and reposts them for travel agents' use, won't be able to repost American's fares, as a court injunction now prohibits the company from doing so.

American got 67th State District Judge Don Cosby to issue a temporary injunction prohibiting such dissemination until the case comes up at trial, set for July 7.

In case American doesn't prevail, the judge also required American to post a $350,000 bond.

American says it can be hurt by FareChase's reposting its fares, as some 2/3 of AA's tickets are still sold through travel agents, which costs AMRcorp about $400,000 in fees. Fares booked directly through the internet at aa.com, cost the fliers the same; but American doesn't pay the commissions.

When FareChase puts American's fares up on the Sabre system for travel agents to see and use, the airline argued, it's promoting the agents, and thus costing the airline money.

FareChase argued that, once the fares are posted at American's site, they're hardly proprietary any more...

FMI: www.amrcorp.com, www.farechase.com; www.sabre.com