Since we hit the send button today on
a story in The Beat about a judge dismissing a few of American Airlines' antitrust claims against Travelport, the carrier revised the first statement it issued, co-defendant Sabre shared its take on the ruling and Orbitz announced that motions AA filed against the company have been dismissed.
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Unfortunately, the court's order was filed under seal. That means we can't read it and are therefore at the mercy of the litigants to share what they can.
Here's what a Sabre spokeswoman had to say:
"In the early phases of litigation, there are several legal steps aimed at narrowing the claims. Yesterday, the judge dismissed several of American's claims against Sabre. He also allowed some to continue. It's important to note that these decisions were based simply on what was alleged and whether those allegations, if accepted as true, would be legally sufficient. This was not a decision on the merits of any of American's remaining claims, to which we'll only restate our belief that all of the claims are baseless and we look forward to proving that through the litigation process. It is important to note that our preference remains to negotiate a new distribution agreement with American Airlines that meets the needs of all constituents—not to litigate or use litigation as a negotiating tool."
And, here's American Airlines' revised statement, in full.
"American is pleased that the court is allowing American's principal antitrust claims to proceed and that the court has rejected the defendants' arguments on key legal issues. Most importantly, the court has held that American can proceed with its claims that Sabre has monopolized the market for provision of airline booking services to travel agents, and separate claims that Sabre and Travelport each has unlawfully monopolized the market for the provision of airline booking services to their respective subscribers.
"In addition, the order permits American to raise additional antitrust claims based on newly discovered evidence, including that Sabre unlawfully organized a group boycott against American, and that Sabre and Travelport illegally conspired with each other to prevent competition from American's direct connect technology.
"At this point, we cannot provide details because the order is filed under seal. However, to be clear, the key monopolization claims that American pled were deemed plausible by the court and remain an important part of the case. We are confident in the merits of our claims and will continue vigorously pursuing this litigation."
Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by Orbitz today, the court "has dismissed all existing antitrust claims" filed by American against the online travel agency.
And, just to make the record complete,
here's the Travelport's SEC filing we first reported on.