Expedia, US Airways reach pact on tickets

Officials at the two companies declined to say what kind of financial agreement they had reached, but Expedia yesterday was once again charging customers a $5 fee for issuing a US Airways ticket, the same price it charges for every other plane fare.

Expedia had unilaterally increased its customer fee for US Airways tickets to $8.99 when the airline balked at paying higher fees to the travel agency for handling its bookings. The higher fee prompted US Airways to pull its tickets off the Expedia website on Dec. 8, soon after the dispute erupted.

These type of ticket conflicts are becoming more common in the industry. Airlines, many of them struggling financially, are trying to slash the cost of selling tickets even as online travel agencies such as Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz are selling more and more of them and demanding greater compensation.

In 2002, Expedia stopped selling Northwest tickets briefly in a fee dispute and some online travel agents temporarily increased the fees they charged customers after the airlines halted agent commissions. A few airlines, most notably Southwest Airlines, don't allow their tickets to be sold by the online travel agencies.

Although the nature of the Expedia-US Airways compromise was not disclosed yesterday, several analysts said they thought US Airways probably had the upper hand.

Expedia sold about $280 million worth of US Airways tickets during the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, but analysts say they doubted the airline would see a major dropoff in sales by removing its tickets from the online agency.

US Airways, which emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this year, declined to say what fees the airline pays Expedia or how big an increase Expedia had been seeking.

At the time it pulled its tickets from Expedia, the airline indicated it wasn't interested in paying more.

"Expedia wants us to pay more and we're not in a pay-more mode. We're in a cost-reduction mode," said David Castleveter, the US Airways spokesman.

Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com.