American Airlines May Pull Tickets From Orbitz

American Airlines (AMR) may yank its tickets from travel website Orbitz (OWW) in a dispute over how the website gets information on American ticket prices.

American wants travel agencies to access ticket prices direct from American, rather than going through middlemen called global distribution systems, or GDS, The Associated Press reported.

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This would lower costs for the airlines, as every time a ticket is sold via a GDS, the GDS takes a portion of the price.

Orbitz CEO Barney Harford said the American strategy would make it harder for customers to compare prices.

Orbitz is controlled by Travelport Limited, which also owns two GDS.

American said in a statement that its tickets will still be available on Orbitz today and they will "continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a viable, mutually beneficial agreement with Orbitz."

Airlines have been working to trim costs as the economic slowdown and high fuel costs eat into profits.