Delta Drops Listings From Three Online Travel Sites

Could this be a trend for 2011? Are airlines, eager to cut expenses and boost every penny of profit, backing away from partnerships with websites that sell their tickets?

The Atlanta Constitution reports Delta Airlines has ended its relationships with three small online ticket sellers. The newspaper quotes the airline as saying it ended its agreements with CheapOAir.com,OneTravel.com and Bookit.com effective December 17. Tickets purchased through those sites prior to that date will still be honored, Delta said.

The news about Delta follows an announcement by American Airlines that it is ending its relationship with Orbitz. The issue revolved around Orbitz's use of a middleman company to obtain American's flight data. American said it saw that as a needless expense.

Delta said its dropping the three small travel sites does not affect its relationship with other sites. Consumers will still be able to purchase Delta tickets through Orbitz, Expedia, Tavelocity, and Priceline.

But one wonders if this is a sign that airlines are beginning to have second thoughts about third-party outlets for their tickets, which have been in use since the mid 1990s, as the Internet became mainstream. After all, one only has to look to the nation's largest domestic airline to see a different business model.

Southwest Airlines does not sell its tickets through any third-party website. It is currently airing a national ad campaign driving home the message that the only place online you can book a Southwest flight is on the airline's own website.

American and Delta no doubt would like to increase bookings through their own websites and not have to give up any ticket revenue to a third party. Travel booking websites can be forgiven if they're starting to look over their shoulders these days.

In fact, after American announced it was ending its relationship with Orbitz, Expedia took the extraordinary step of "hiding" American fares on its own site, as a form of protest.

As for Delta, the company said its decision to drop the three small sites should not be interpreted as reflecting its view of third-party sites in general. Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president of network planning, revenue management and marketing, recently told investors that the companies thinks some distribution channels have enormous value, while others "are of less value."