Then the allegation that we are "an illegal boycott against third party distributors" because it has "requirements for posting fare sales that cannot be sold" by others is not true? It is absolutely not true, and those who have made that allegation had absolutely no basis for making it. Our agreements contain no boycott against any distributors whatsoever, and in fact affirmatively provide that no airline is precluded from utilizing any other distribution channel or offering any fare through any channel. The Department of Justice is presently reviewing all agreements, so there will be no question on this point. Do airlines today make all their fares available through all retail channels?

Most airlines today choose to make web fares available only on their own websites, because these fares are so low it would be uneconomic to offer them through the higher cost channels. (It is, in fact, very common throughout the retailing world for stores or catalogs to also have a website, and for that website to offer a few prices that are below the prices charged for the same goods in the store or the catalog.) However whether an airline chooses to make its web fares available through CRS''s to travel agents and the websites that rely on CRS''s is strictly an individual airline decision, and will remain so once Orbitz is up and running. Several third party websites (such as intellitrip.com) today take web fares from various airline websites (which they can do, because nothing is more public than a website) and display them in one place for their customers. And of course travel agents can book web fares off an airline''s website for a customer if they wish (although whether they get a commission on that booking is up to the individual airline).

Then the allegation that we are "an illegal boycott against third party distributors" because it has "requirements for posting fare sales that cannot be sold" by others is not true? It is absolutely not true, and those who have made that allegation had absolutely no basis for making it. Our agreements contain no boycott against any distributors whatsoever, and in fact affirmatively provide that no airline is precluded from utilizing any other distribution channel or offering any fare through any channel. The Department of Justice is presently reviewing all agreements, so there will be no question on this point. Do airlines today make all their fares available through all retail channels?

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