Skift Take
How long will it be before American Airlines' flight content gets removed from Skiplagged? Hint: Southwest sued and its flights are gone.
After lawsuits over the years by United, Orbitz and Southwest, American Airlines has joined the fray and filed a federal lawsuit against "hidden city" flight provider Skiplagged, charging copyright infringement, deceptive practices and "other misconduct."
In a lawsuit with similar allegations, American in July also sued Czech Republic-based online travel agency Kiwi.com. It likewise sued Dallas-based air travel consolidator GTT Travel, alleging fraud and mishandling of contracted sub-agencies.
In the Skiplagged lawsuit, filed last week, American alleged that Skiplagged sells its flights and uses American's intellectual property without authorization, misleads flyers with deceptive offers, and harms the airline's operations by counseling passengers on best practices to get away with surreptitiously deplaning at stopovers instead of continuing on to their ticketed final destinations. (You can view the lawsuit embedded below.)
"Skiplagged’s improper actions have caused American considerable harm," the complaint said. "When things go wrong with tickets booked through Skiplagged, American gets blamed, even though those problems are the direct result of unnecessary complications caused by Skiplagged’s improper practices. Further, Skiplagged’s liberal and unauthorized use of American’s protected intellectual property suggests falsely that American is working with Skiplagged, authorizing its activities, and will assist customers when Skiplagged’s practices