Just after signing contracts with travel site's biggest competitors, discount airline ducks out of distribution agreement.
AirTran Airways will no longer list flights and fares on online travel agency Expedia, the discount airline said Friday. The Atlanta-based carrier, however, this month signed multiyear agreements with Expedia's biggest competitors: Cendant's Orbitz and Sabre Holdings' Travelocity.
The change, which the 12th-largest U.S. carrier says should help cut its distribution costs, is effective immediately. It comes one day after parent company AirTran Holdings posted a third-quarter loss of $228,000, blaming high fuel prices.