Jay Campbell at the Beat has tracked down more information about American’s recent announcement. His update indicates that the issue does include Worldspan.
The statements by both Expedia and American are somewhat contradictory so I don’t know that we have the full story yet.
Jay does write that Expedia’s Corporate Travel Program is not affected by American’s announcement, i.e. Expedia will continue to sell American first and business class domestic as well as international fares through it’s corporate engine.
I’m convinced this is a dispute about the economics of distribution. The unknown is whether this is going to be a short spat and they will quickly make up or are both sides planning on a protracted cold war. The other unknown is whether or not any other carriers are considering similar moves. American has often led industry trends. If other carriers were to follow it would put increased pressure on Expedia.
Expedia’s in deep doo-doo