It's not the prospect of another Travelocity or Expedia that Southwest finds so worrisome, it is who is behind it. While Orbitz, which is already serving customers ahead of its scheduled launch in June, also includes fares from other airlines, Southwest claims it being treated unfairly on the site, saying that Orbitz is using airline information without Southwest's permission and is posting flights that don't actually exist. They say that while Orbitz's home page cheerily claims to offer the lowest fares, Southwest has a number of ticket prices that Orbitz, funnily enough, didn't mention. At the basis of the suit is the smell of a cartel. However, opponents say, if the Big Five get together, they are likely to offer such fares on their own combination site, thus providing an online petri dish for anticompetitive collusion.
Most observers believe that the airline industry needs to be more competitive.
Orbitz is a step in the wrong direction. The conflict looks certain to escalate. Orbitz and its backers deny that they are doing anything wrong, while Southwest is receiving overt and covert backing from allies. Orbitz was recently cleared for takeoff by the Department of Transportation. But the progress of Southwest's suit will be closely watched by the Department of Justice and more than two dozen state attorneys general across the country who currently have Orbitz on their anti-trust radar screens.