My Deam Vacation

American airlines and United Airlines developed reservation systems used by their own ticketing agents and by travel agents in booking flights. When a customer calls to book a flight, the agent enters information into a computer concerning the date and time of flights required. The system displays the flights that meet these criteria, and the agent presents the choices to the customer.
In 1984, several of their competitors sued American and United, claiming that these reservation systems constituted unfair competition. The competitors claimed that American and United charged excessive fees for including competing airlines flights in the system. Also, they asserted that American and United limited competitor’s participation and displayed competitors’ flight after displaying their own. Not surprisingly, busy travel agents were more likely to book these flights instead of looking further for flights on the other airlines that might be as good or better for customers. American and United countered that their use of these systems was not unfair competition. Rather, they had decided to invest in these systems many years earlier, and after years of work were now enjoying the fruit of these investments. That same year, American and United agreed to discontinue preferential treatment for their own flights in screen displays used by travel agents.