US Airways and Expedia sign new multi-year partnership

US Airways and Expedia announced (21-Jan-2011) they have signed a multi-year strategic partnership agreement to continue offering US Airways' full range of products and services, including all fares and inventory, through Expedia, Hotwire and Egencia sites around the world. Under the agreement, US Airways has committed to offer all of its content to Expedia through the global distribution system (GDS) model, a central reservation system which is used by travel agencies to search and book travel. In addition, Expedia has committed to working with US Airways to enable the distribution of its Choice Seats product through new channels, including the Expedia online travel marketplace. Meanwhile, Expedia previously announced it has suspended the sale of American Airlines tickets from its website and stated the carrier's new direct marketing strategy is "anti-consumer and anti-choice" (AFP, 03-Jan-2011). Expedia added that its remains "open to doing business with American Airlines on terms that are satisfactory to Expedia". American Airlines announced on 29-Dec-2010 that it has seen a year-over-year increase in ticket sales since 21-Dec-2010, when it removed its schedules and airfares for American Airlines and American Eagle services from orbitz.com and websites powered by Orbitz, and since 23-Dec-2010, when Expedia began listing American's services and schedules lower in the search display than those of other airlines. [more]