Travel Websites Claim Delta Is Cutting Them Off

A report in today’s Wall Street Journal say that a group of travel websites (including Hipmunk, TripAdvisor and CheapOAir) are claiming that Delta Airlines is deliberately preventing them from using their data.

Delta has removed their schedules and fare information from 10+ travel sites meaning that Delta’s prices will not appear in consumer searches on those sites.

Delta claims that it never gave these sites permission to use their data while the travel sites  are claiming that this is all part of a broader move by the airlines (as a whole) to restrict customer access to airline prices. The travel sites go on to claim that both American Airlines and United have also recently changed their policies to increase restrictions on data usage.

It’s important to note that Delta hasn’t removed its data from all online travel agencies (OTAs). Sites like Expedia, Kayak and Orbitz still seem to be showing Delta prices…for now. But a quote from Delta saying that it “reserves the right to determine who it does business with, and where and how its information is displayed.” doesn’t suggest that those sites are completely safe either.

These spats between airlines and OTAs are nothing new. Back in August last year American Airlines ran a banner on their homepage saying “You Won’t Find Our Fares On Orbitz” after a disagreement with the online travel site about booking fees. At the time American claimed that it was trying to keep costs down “to compete with low-cost carriers” but the spat was over in a matter of days and things returned to normal pretty quickly.

Is it just me or are these airline-OTA disagreements becoming more frequent?

The WSJ suggests that, as airlines unbundle their fares more and more (charging for seats, baggage etc…) they are becoming more and more intent on pushing travellers to their own sites where they can try to sell more of these add-ons.

While, to date, all these spats have eventually seen the airlines and OTAs kiss and make up, we shouldn’t necessarily expect this to always be the case. Although United is quoted as saying that they’ll continue to appear on “a variety of channels, provided those channels offer value at efficient costs.” and although Delta hasn’t removed access to its data from all OTAs one has to wonder how long this will last. Southwest has long not appeared on price comparison sites and their absence doesn’t seem to have done them much harm. So how long before American, Delta and United decide that they no longer need to appear on Expedia, Orbitz, Kayak et al and we’re all forced to use the Airlines’ websites to book our trips?