Skift Take
The U.S. Department of Transporation wants to take a hard look at the distribution methods of U.S. airlines. While it's unclear if any regulation will indeed take place, a move to increase transparency in airfares and schedules would effectively empower online booking sites and metasearch providers while removing a powerful revenue management tool that airlines have used for two decades.
Buried in a document dump by the White House and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is a potential bombshell that could one day upend how airlines sell flights to consumers online.
A new request for information from the DOT outlines the friction that exists between airlines, online booking sites, and the consumers who often struggle to make effective flight booking decisions. It also raises the specter of potential regulation that could change how airlines are able to restrict the selling of air travel products.
On the heels of an executive order from the Obama administration this April pushing for greater competition and transparency in consumer marketplaces, the DOT is looking at concerns raised by consumer advocates and online booking sites about how airline tactics affect competition in online travel.
"Specifically, concerns were raised about practices by some airlines to restrict the distribution and/or display of flight information by certain online travel agencies (OTAs), metasearch entities that operate flight search tools, and other stakeholders involved in the distribution of flight information and sale of air transportation," states the document. "Airlines state that it is important for them to maintain control over the display and distribution of airline flight information while OTAs and metasearch entities that operate flight search tools state that actions taken by airlines to restrict the distribution or display of flight information are anticompetitive and harming consumers."
The DOT will investigate whether information on flight scheduling, pricing,
