American Airlines in talks for 100 Airbus planes

(Reuters) - AMR Corp's (AMR.N) American Airlines, the operator of an all-Boeing (BA.N) jet fleet, is in talks with Airbus (EAD.PA) about buying at least 100 narrow-body planes, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A decision by the board of AMR, the third-largest U.S. carrier, may come as soon as July, the report said, adding that the jets from Airbus's A320 series would replace less-efficient aircraft such as Boeing 757s and MD-80s.

An A320 has a list price of $85 million, giving a potential American order a value of about $8.5 billion, according to the report.

Representatives of American Airlines and Airbus were not available for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

American Airlines-Orbitz-Expedia feud may affect ticket prices

The recently sparked feud between American Airlines and the travel websites Orbitz and Expedia has business travel managers worried that the dispute may end up making plane tickets charge more money.

It all started previous year when American Airlines yanked its ticket sales from Orbitz to save on the commissions and fees it pays to sell tickets through travel sites. Expedia jumped into the fray by withholding American Airlines ticket information from its web site.

At the heart of the quarrel is a complicated revenue-sharing arrangement between the airline, the travel site and the global distribution systems that dole out ticket information.

Fears of fragmented air travel market allayed

American Airlines and Sabre Holdings have agreed to suspend litigation surrounding their airfare distribution contract.

During the suspension, the organisations have agreed to operate as they had been prior to when the conflict between them began, while they work towards a fresh airfare distribution agreement.

The agreement means travel buyers will benefit from a totally transparent view of airline data on Sabre Holdings, one of the world’s largest global distribution systems, including American Airlines travel information.

Orbitz vs. American Airlines: The traveler is the loser

Maybe you've heard about the little issue between American Airlines and several online travel agencies, including Orbitz and Expedia.

Maybe you've noticed that when you go fare-shopping on those travel websites, you aren't offered any American flights.

Maybe you've told to yourself, "So what?"

"It's truly an inside baseball kind of story," admits William Swelbar, a research engineer in MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.

AMR 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Improved Business Travel, Fare Trends

The parent of American Airlines on Wednesday reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss and pledged to keep costs flat current year in an effort to narrow the gap with rival U.S. carriers.

American also plans to expand capacity more than its network rivals in what is a crucial year for the country's third-largest airline as it tries to leverage expanded alliances with overseas partners, rejig its domestic network and secure fresh deals with labor and third-party ticket sellers.

"As we focus on the year ahead, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to build on our present momentum," told Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey in a letter to staff. "The economic recovery is real, albeit fragile, and our network is much stronger than it was a year ago."

As American Airlines clashes with Sabre, travel agents suffer

A fight between the big boys is currently hurting the little guys.

With Sabre Holdings announcing previous week that it would drop American Airlines' fares from its system in August and in the meantime make those fares harder to find, some travel agents say their agencies are paying the price.

"I can't have an agent spending all day long checking airline websites for an airfare," told Debbie Stevenson, owner of Ridgmar Travel in Fort Worth. "I feel totally helpless. I'm at the mercy of two big companies, American and Sabre."

American sues Sabre in battle over flight listings

American Airlines is suing Sabre to prevent the company from downplaying American flights in displays that it provides to travel agents.

American says if Sabre is allowed to favor other airlines in information searches, it will cost American "countless sales."

The lawsuit was filed Monday in state court in Fort Worth, Texas. It's the newest blow in an escalating fight over how airline tickets are sold.

American wants to force travel agents to get information about flights and prices straight from the airline to reduce middleman expenses. Sabre, a travel-data provider, retaliated last week by making it harder for travel agents to find information about American flights and raising fees that it charges American.

American Airlines feud: bad news for consumers

American Airlines wants travel agents and consumers to buy tickets directly from its online site rather than online travel agencies such as Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity, which offer a broad choice of airlines, ticket prices and flight times. Podcast: Find low-priced fares as American Airlines fights travel sites.

As anyone who’s bought tickets online knows, those travel agencies offer discounts, plus a convenient means of choosing which flights, and which airlines to fly. We use these websites to make purchases based on price. American wants you to buy based on services.

“American is forcing a situation where you almost have to roll back the clock [to] where it makes it more hard for the consumer to access comprehensive fare and schedule information,” said Mike McCormick, executive director of the National Business Travel Association.

2 Airlines Say They'll Waive Some Fees If Weather Disrupts Travel This Weekend

JetBlue Airways and American Airlines say they'll waive some change fees if your travel plans are disrupted by bad weather conditions this weekend.

American Airlines is allowing passengers to change their flights to or from Bradley International Airport and other East Coast destination, with Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Pa., and Boston.

If you are traveling to, from or through any of those airports today and your ticket was issued no later than Wednesday, you may change flights as late as Sunday with no penalty.

Latest fare war: Airline vs. online

Travel industry watchers say a struggle is brewing for manage of the air travel reservations, and that travel websites and even some travel agents are already feeling the effects.

American Airlines and online ticketing sites Orbitz and Expedia are at odds over the airline's efforts to steer more air ticket purchases through its latest reservation system. As a result, American's flights are no longer sold through Orbitz and Expedia.

"American Airlines wants to stop paying the global distribution systems charge and instead have people come to them directly," said Charlie Leocha, director of the nonprofit Consumer Travel Alliance in Washington, D.C., a subscription-supported consumer advocacy group.

Sabre joins American Airlines ticket spat

Sabre Holdings Group said Wednesday that it will stop distributing American Airlines' inventory of airline tickets and other goods to travel agents this summer, escalating the battle over how air travel is sold by third parties.

Sabre, which runs the world's major clearinghouse for travel transactions, intends to end its contract with American in August, a month ahead of the termination date. In the meantime, Sabre is ending discounts it had provided to the Texas-based carrier, while also making American's fares more hard for travel agents to find than those of other carriers.

The moves turn American's battles to gain greater control over its fare data into an outright war with some of its closest delivery partners, analysts said. Processing more than 1 million transactions per minute during peak times, Sabre's travel network was built by American Airlines in 1960 and spun out of American parent AMR Corp. in 2000.