DALLAS — The government is investigating whether companies that distribute airline flight and fare information are stifling competition and violating antitrust laws.
The Justice Department confirmed the investigation Friday after several airlines and two leading ticket-information-distribution companies said they received letters from antitrust officials.
This is the latest twist in an escalating fight between airlines and so-called global distribution systems over how air travel is sold, especially to lucrative corporate accounts. Many consumers buy tickets online directly from the airlines, but corporations often use travel agencies that get information about flights and fares from the three big distribution companies.
American Airlines has led the challenge to the current setup. It wants to deal directly with travel agents to reduce fees it pays to the distribution systems and to use its own information about customers to sell them extra services. American claims distribution companies have struck back by making information about its flights harder to find.
American said Friday that it received a civil demand for information from the Justice Department. The airline declined to release the document, but a spokesman said: “American is not the subject of the investigation.”
Delta Air Lines and US Airways acknowledged getting similar requests, as did two large distribution systems, Travelport Ltd. and Sabre Holdings.
Last month American sued Travelport, accusing it of monopoly tactics and retaliating against the airline by burying information about its flights. Travelport’s systems handled $2.7 billion in American ticket sales last year.
Travelport, Sabre and a third company, Amadeus, control all the distribution systems in the U.S.
Travelport countered that American was trying to control ticket distribution so that it could limit consumer choice and reduce competition.
