Kayak Files Countersuit Against American Airlines

Kayak.com has filed a countersuit against American Airlines in response to an ongoing dispute between the two companies. In its court filing in the Tarras County, Texas, the metasearch engine said American was distributing false statements that were eroding Kayak’s goodwill with its own customers.

Kayak said the two entities had had an agreement for four years in which Kayak could access Americans fare and inventory information. According to Kayak, this past summer American told Kayak that it was “no longer pleased with the display of search results that include prices for American flight sold in American” on website as well as those sold through online travel agencies Orbitz and Cheaptickets.

Kayak said it complied with the request by said it was inconsistent with Kayak’s platform of providing channel-neutral results and then terminated its agreement with American.

Kayak said in its court filing that American had emailed travelers who had used Kayak in the past to look for airline fares and then book them, telling those travelers that American had ended its relationship with Kayak rather than saying that Kayak had terminated the relationship because, Kayak said, “of American’s demand for incomplete and therefore biased, search results.”

Kayak said American also directed consumers to a false statement about Kayak’s practice of displaying Orbitz search results was forcing American to pay a “double tax, once to Kayak and once to Orbitz.” Kayak said that no such double payment is made or required under the agreements.