Expedia CEO: If United Doesn’t Talk New Deal, It Will Be ‘Completely Bewildering’
Skift Take
It's certainly possible that United may walk away from Expedia on September 30 if the two parties can't reach a new contract. Expedia is downplaying the financial impact, but the repercussions would be far-reaching — and would amount to a big hit to the Expedia brand.
United and Expedia Group's distribution agreement expires at the end of September. In the run-up to that deadline, the two companies have been battling it out in court — and in the court of investor and analyst opinion — during their respective earnings calls.
In one such discussion with financial analysts Thursday, Expedia Group CEO Mark Okerstrom said he "would find it completely bewildering if United decided not to engage in that discussion," meaning talks to see how each party could be mutually beneficial to one another.
"I think we're about five months out from contract expiration," Okerstrom said. "We've always been very excited about having this type of discussion with United. But listen, at the end of the day, this is a platform. It has market-level economics. And to the extent that United, for whatever reason, decides to go [in] a different direction, no one of our carriers represents more than 1 percent of our revenue."
Despite the relatively modest revenue hit t
